MARQUETTE, MI-- The Marquette County Health Department has received a grant to fund a four-year youth suicide prevention project.
The money from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Injury and Violence Prevention Unit will focus on creating a change in how the community addresses youth suicide. It will begin with a pilot program in the Child and Adolescent Health Centers in the Gwinn and Ishpeming Middle and High Schools.
Over the course of the grant, the health department will implement the “Zero Suicide” prevention model and work with youth-serving agencies like community mental health, law enforcement and the judicial system, healthcare facilities, primary care clinics, and first responders.
Project coordinator Sarah Derwin says, “We will work with these local coalitions in Gwinn and Ishpeming to review current practices, identify barriers to timely and effective care for youth at risk of suicide and recommend changes to be implemented in subsequent years and throughout the county.”
Derwin says additional project goals include increased awareness and promotion of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention “Out of the Darkness” Community Walk; a training for local media on responsible reporting of suicide; and the creation of public service announcements and enhancement of websites and social media tools.
