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Pennsylvania State Suicide Prevention Information

• Contact Information
• Recent Developments
• State Events
• History of State Suicide Prevention Efforts
• State and Local Prevention Resources
• Legislation/Resolutions
• Funding Sources

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Pennsylvania Contact Information:

Please click on contact information to view the person(s) taking the lead in suicide prevention planning efforts in all of the states or territories.

Recent Developments:

• 2009 – Pennsylvania receives Garrett Lee Smith Youth Suicide Prevention Grant.

  The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration recently awarded a youth suicide prevention grant to the Pennsylvania Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. The award is for $500,000 per year for three years, for a total of $1.5 million. The Pennsylvania grant project, entitled 'Suicide Prevention in Primary Care,' will build a suicide prevention program for youth ages 14-24 within the primary care medical system that will provide screening, assessment, family engagement, and linkage to treatment. It will be piloted in Schuylkill, Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties, three counties with some of the highest rates for suicide death and hospitalization for self-injury in Pennsylvania.

  These three pilot projects will focus on five primary objectives:

  • 1) Create a partnership within each county of policy makers, medical and behavioral health care providers, local suicide task forces, family members, and local medical and behavioral health insurance companies;
  • 2) Provide a youth suicide “gatekeeper” training program for participating pediatricians, family physicians and nurse practitioners;
  • 3) Provide medical practitioners free access to a web-based, patient self-report screening tool to assess for suicide and related risk factors;
  • 4) Increase the integration of behavioral health services with physical health services; and
  • 5) Provide clinical training in best practice therapy models for youth who are suicidal to the behavioral health providers who will receive referrals of these at-risk youth.

  The overarching goal of the “Suicide Prevention in Primary Care” project is to identify barriers, solutions and resources that will allow the state to expand the primary care suicide prevention project across the commonwealth.
  
  

• 2008 – Pennsylvania launches new Youth Suicide Prevention web site at: www.paspi.org
  
  Pennsylvania Adult and Older Adult Suicide Prevention Initiative website at: www.parecovery.org
  
  

State Events:

• Sep. 10, 2010
  Candle Light Memorial, "Hope and healing for our Times"
  Survivors of Suicide, Inc.
  
  

Visit the SPRC Calendar of Events for more details on all state and national events. If you would like to add a particular event, please take a moment to fill out our online Add Your Event form.

State and Local Prevention Resources:

Organizations

Materials

• After an Attempt: The Emotional Impact of a Suicide Attempt on Families – From the Feeling Blue Suicide Prevention Council
  
  
• A Guide to Crucial Issues Surrounding Suicide – Feeling Blue Suicide Prevention Council Resource Manual
  
  
• Student Assistance Program Resources
  
  
• Services for Teens at Risk (STAR) Center Manuals
  
  

Legislation/Resolutions:

• SR 302 – Pennsylvania Senate Resolution 302 - Recognizing the Student Assistance Program's 20 year anniversary and designating November 2004 as Pennsylvania Student Assistance Program Month
  
  
• HR 839 – Pennsylvania House Resolution 839 - Recognizing the Student Assistance Program's 20 year anniversary
  
  

Funding Sources:

• 2004 – Summer - The Center for Mental Health Services at SAMHSA awarded Potter County Suicide Prevention Task Force a $75,000 grant to establish a county-wide teen suicide prevention project to implement counseling and peer intervention programs
  
  

For assistance, please contact your SPRC Prevention Specialist, Nella Mupier, by email at nmupier@edc.org or telephone at 617-618-2730.

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The SPRC is supported by a grant (1 U79 SM57392-05) from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). No official endorsement by SAMHSA or DHHS for the information on this web site is intended or should be inferred.

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