Early Identification, Referral and Follow-up of Youth at Risk for Suicide in Schools and Other Youth Serving Agencies

The Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act (GLSMA) of 2004 authorizes support for state and tribal youth suicide prevention across the country. The national evaluation of this initiative has resulted in one of the largest databases of youth suicide prevention and early intervention proximal outcomes. This presentation will describe data collected from GLSMA-funded suicide prevention programs in states and tribes across the nation, including the number of youth identified as at-risk, referrals made and service received from both gatekeepers and screenings. It will include information gathered from the 46 state and tribal grantees that have submitted EIRF data. Sites collected EIRF data from mental health screenings, trained gatekeepers, or a combination of the two. To report this data, schools and other youth serving agencies typically have to create or modify referral protocols and tracking systems, resulting in a sustainable improvement in their suicide prevention infrastructure and an increased capacity to assist youth in crisis. Several of the models these agencies use to collect the data and ensure that youth are connected with services will be described during the presentation. As a result, over 7,000 youth aged 10-24 have been identified as at-risk, the majority of whom were referred for either mental or non-mental health services (97.1%, n=6922) and received that service(64.1%,n=2412). Findings suggest that with support and training, schools and other youth serving organizations can develop or access data to track the identification, referral and follow-up of youth at risk for suicide.