SAMHSA’s Suicide Prevention Initiatives

Suicide prevention is a high priority for SAMHSA and a key area of focus in SAMHSA’s 2023-2026 Strategic Plan. Below is more information about SAMHSA’s suicide prevention initiatives.

Funding and Grant Programs

SAMHSA’s Suicide Prevention Branch funds discretionary grant programs focused on suicide prevention, early intervention, crisis support, treatment, recovery, and postvention for youth and adults, including:

• Garrett Lee Smith State/Tribal: Community-based suicide prevention for youth and young adults up to age 24. This program supports states and tribes with implementing youth suicide prevention and early intervention strategies in educational settings, juvenile justice and foster care systems, substance use and mental health programs, and other organizations to: (1) increase the number of organizations that can identify and work with youth at risk of suicide; (2) increase the capacity of clinical service providers to assess, manage, and treat youth at risk of suicide; and (3) improve the continuity of care and follow-up of at-risk youth.

  • “It has been wonderful work made possible through the SAMHSA grant and we are thrilled each chance we get to share these programs with others to help support other grants and especially our youth.” – S/T Grantee

• Garrett Lee Smith Campus: Suicide prevention initiatives for students on college campuses. This program supports a comprehensive, evidence-based public health approach that: (1) enhances mental health services for students, including those at risk for suicide, depression, serious mental illness / serious emotional disturbances, and/or substance use disorders (SUDs) that can lead to school failure; (2) prevents and reduces suicide, mental illness, and SUDs; (3) promotes help-seeking behavior; and (4) improves the identification and treatment of at-risk students so they can successfully complete their studies.

  • “This marks 3 years of enhanced mental health and wellbeing support for students. We’ve learned that high usage of after-hour support for students through our program lowers the barriers that may otherwise prevent students from seeking help.” – GLS Campus Grantee

• Native Connections/Tribal Behavioral Health: Community-based suicide prevention for American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) youth through age 24. The purpose of this program is to prevent suicide and substance misuse, reduce the impact of trauma, and promote mental health among AI/AN youth. It aims to reduce the impact of mental health and substance use disorders, foster culturally responsive models that reduce and respond to the impact of trauma in AI/AN communities, and allow AI/AN communities to facilitate collaboration among agencies to support youth through the development and implementation of an array of integrated services and supports with the involvement of AI/AN community members in all grant activities.
• National Strategy for Suicide Prevention: Community suicide prevention for adults 18 and over. The purpose of this program is to implement suicide prevention and intervention programs for adults (with an emphasis on older adults, adults in rural areas, and AI/AN adults) that help implement the 2021 Surgeon General’s Call to Action to Implement the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (PDF | 708 KB). This program uses a broad-based public health approach to suicide prevention by enhancing collaboration with key community stakeholders, raising awareness of suicide prevention resources, and implementing lethal means safety.

  • “The NSSP grant has not only allowed us to sustain our efforts to prevent suicide by expanding our capacity to engage in lethal means safety, connectedness, economic stability, education, and follow-up efforts across the state, but also given local partners resources to implement innovative strategies for suicide prevention.” – NSSP Grantee

• Zero Suicide: Suicide prevention framework to implement within Health and Behavioral Health Care Systems for adults 18 and older. The purpose of this program is to implement the Zero Suicide intervention and prevention model—a comprehensive, multi-setting suicide prevention approach—for adults throughout a health system or systems. Recipients are expected to implement all seven elements of the Zero Suicide framework—Lead, Train, Identify, Engage, Treat, Transition, and Improve—incorporating health equity principles within the framework in order to reduce suicide ideation, attempts, and deaths.

  • “Emphasis of Zero Suicide has created an environment where more and more individuals are talking openly about suicide, and it is helping to shatter stigma that surrounds suicide.” – Zero Suicide Grantee

• Community Crisis Response Partnerships: Mobile crisis units serving youth and adults across the lifespan. The purpose of this program is to create or enhance existing mobile crisis response teams to divert people experiencing mental health crises from law enforcement in high-need communities, where mobile crisis services are absent or inconsistent, most mental health crises are responded to by first responders, and/or first responders are not adequately trained or equipped to diffuse mental health crises. Grant recipients use SAMHSA’s National Guidelines for Behavioral Health Crisis Care: Best Practice Toolkit (PDF | 2.2 MB) as a guide in mobile crisis service delivery.

  • “The CCRP grant has allowed our agency to expand our mobile crisis services to a 24/7/365 program, setting us apart as the first in our state to offer around the clock mobile response. This has greatly reduced the instances of unnecessary involvement with Law Enforcement and EMS, expediting the appropriate mental health service, directly to the client.” – CCRP Grantee

• Suicide Prevention Resource Center: Funded by SAMHSA’s Suicide Prevention Branch, SPRC is a national resource center devoted to advancing the implementation of the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention. SPRC advances suicide prevention infrastructure and capacity building through technical assistance, training, and resources to states, Native settings, colleges and universities, health systems, and other organizations involved in suicide prevention. Visit SPRC to learn more about suicide and a comprehensive approach to suicide prevention; access a searchable online library, Best Practices Registry, and set of online trainings and webinars; request technical assistance with your suicide prevention efforts; or sign up for SPRC’s weekly newsletter.

SAMHSA Initiatives in Action

• SAMHSA’s Black Youth Suicide Prevention Initiative: Created by SAMHSA’s Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) to address the growing rate of suicide deaths among Black youth and young adults. Utilizing mechanisms within and external to SAMHSA, the goal of the Black Youth Suicide Prevention Initiative is to reduce the suicidal thoughts, attempts, and deaths of Black youth and young adults between the ages of 5-24 across the country.

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is a free, confidential 24/7 phone line that connects individuals in crisis with trained counselors across the United States. There are also specialized lines for both Veterans and the LGBTQIA+ population.

You don’t have to be suicidal or in crisis to call the Lifeline. People call to talk about coping with lots of things: substance use, economic worries, relationships, sexual identity, illness, abuse, mental and physical illness, and loneliness. Here’s more about the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline:

• You are not alone in reaching out. In 2021, the Lifeline received 3.6 million calls, chats, and texts.
• The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is a network of more than 200 state and local call centers supported by HHS through SAMHSA.
• Calls to the Lifeline are routed to the nearest crisis center for connections to local resources for help.
• Responders are trained counselors who have successfully helped to prevent suicide ideation and attempts among callers.
• Learn what happens when you call the Lifeline network.
• Frequently asked questions about the Lifeline.

Suicide-Related Survey Data

Data collected via SAMHSA’s National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) provide estimates of substance use and mental illness at the national, state, and substate levels; help identify the extent of these issues among different subgroups; estimate trends over time; determine the need for treatment services; and help inform planning and early intervention programs and services. NSDUH also collects data about the prevalence of suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts among adolescents aged 12-17 and adults aged 18 or older, described in the NSDUH national releases.