County to Take Part in New Youth Suicide Reporting and Crisis Response Program (countynewscenter.com)

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Hoping to find new ways to keep young people from attempting suicide, the County is poised to take part in a $4.1 million state youth suicide-focused pilot program.

The program, County Health and Human Services Agency officials said Tuesday, could develop new prevention responses—like systems to continue contact and follow up care when youth experiencing thoughts of suicide, doing self-harm, or attempting suicide end up in hospital emergency rooms.

Other actions could include expanding school-based suicide prevention programs like support, resources and mental health screenings for students and families; and increasing outreach, training and suicide risk screenings in rural communities, complementing the array of existing efforts the County is doing around suicide prevention.

Supervisors Tuesday approved accepting the tentative $4.1 million from California Department of Public Health to “develop and test models for rapid reporting and comprehensive crisis response at the local level related to youth suicide and suicide attempts” for people under the age of 25. The state could approve the funding in its final budget deliberations.

Programs the County has developed that could be used as bases in the pilot program include the “It’s Up to Us” multi-media campaign. The program aims to increase public awareness and understanding of suicide and the issues surrounding it. The County’s Mobile Crisis Response Teams send mental health experts to respond to people suffering a mental health crisis where they are to connect them to care. In addition, the County’s 24/7 Access and Crisis line — (888) 724-7240 — gives people a way to talk directly with a clinician to help them around the clock. That help was supplemented last year with the local introduction of the national 988 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in a suicidal, mental health and/or substance use crisis, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.