Early Identification, Referral and Follow-up: Trained gatekeepers linking at-risk youth to services

The Garret Lee Smith Memorial Act, signed into law in October 2004, provides 36 States and tribal communities with funding to develop, evaluate, and improve youth suicide prevention programs. Under this legislation, grantees are required to participate in a cross-site evaluation, which will result in the largest national dataset of information related to youth suicide prevention. The cross-site evaluation uses multiple methods and multiple perspectives to fully evaluate program activities. One component of the cross-site evaluation focuses on tracking program impact through Early Identification, Referral and Follow-up (EIRF) data. The EIRF assesses the impact that program activities, such as gatekeeper trainings, have on early identification of risk, referral processes, and presentation to services. The framework, upon which gatekeeper training is based, begins with early identification of at-risk youth and continues with referral and linkage to service, which is expected to ameliorate at-risk circumstances for youth. Understanding whether gatekeeper training leads to referrals and whether these referrals lead to the receipt of services is critical to understanding the outcomes associated with suicidal behavior. The purpose of the EIRF is to evaluate whether gatekeeper training results in this pathway to services or other supports Using data collected through the cross-site evaluation, results will be presented on: (1) the number and characteristics of youth identified as being at-risk for suicide by a gatekeeper who received training as part of the GLS Suicide Prevention Program; (2) linkages and types of service received and; (3) reasons why identified youths are not linked to services.