From 2006-2010 MHA administered a $1.25 million grant for youth suicide prevention from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
The final report, with attachments, provides a comprehensive summary of the outcomes measured through that grant. While MHA worked with 9 primary pilot sites to implement youth suicide prevention programs during the first three years of the grant, in total individuals from 38 counties and 3 tribes benefitted from training, technical assistance and/or grants to support local events.
Over 4,500 people received training on youth suicide prevention through the grant.
Such success is a reflection of the strong collaborations that characterized this project. MHA recognizes its many partners, who included
- The Injury Research Center at the Medical College of Wisconsin (the local evaluator)
- The Department of Health Services (Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services), which has also provided funding for youth suicide prevention
- The Division of Public Health in addition to other DHS personnel
- The Department of Public Instruction (which has aggressively promoted suicide prevention to schools and also provided funding support to the project),
- Helping Others Prevent and Educate About Suicide (HOPES-Wisconsin's statewide group for survivor's of suicide),
- The Charles E. Kubly Foundation (which has funded and supported both MHA's efforts as well as the efforts of many local coalitions across Wisconsin)
- And, of course, all the local project sites who turned the vision into reality through networking and perseverance.