Tennessee awarded grant to provide services to reduce youth suicide and suicide attempts

NASHVILLE – Tennessee Department of Mental Health (TDMH) Commissioner Doug Varney today announced that the department has received a grant of more than $1.4 million over three years to help reduce suicide and suicide attempts by Tennessee youth. Suicide is the third leading cause of death for high school students and the second leading cause for college age youth in Tennessee.

The grant is known as Tennessee Lives Count (TLC) and was awarded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. It went into effect August 1 and will be used to implement strategies that will increase the skills of individuals that work with high-risk youth to recognize the signs of suicide and to learn how to intervene to save lives. TLC will also provide post crisis follow-up to youth seen in area emergency departments following a suicide attempt. The enhanced follow-up will assist youth in developing effective coping skills and improving resiliency.

 

TLC is a statewide project that will impact over 12,000 Tennesseans through suicide gatekeeper training, which teaches individuals to recognize the signs of suicide and to know what to do to save a life. TLC will also provide suicide awareness training to emergency department staff. Additionally, TLC will provide training to 35 school system administrative staff on how to develop a plan for their school systems should a suicide or a suicide attempt occur. 

 

“We are very excited about the potential of this project to reduce suicides and suicide attempts for our youth,” Varney said. “Suicide is the most preventable form of death, and Tennessee is fortunate to be awarded this grant that will help TDMH and the TLC partners reduce suicides and suicide attempts in our youth.”

 

This marks the third time that TDMH has been awarded the TLC grant, which has been recognized for its effectiveness nationally. The department will be working with Youth Village, Mental Health Association Middle Tennessee and Centerstone Research Institute to achieve the goals of this project. The grant is targeted toward the age group of 10 to 24.

 

For more information about the Tennessee Lives Count grant or mental health and substance use disorders please contact TDMH’s Office of Communications at (615) 253-4812 or visit www.tn.gov/mental.