The Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center The Governor’s PEACE Council; Guam’s State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW) Country Resources Suicide Prevention Guam 31 January 2011 Guidelines

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Guam endures a disturbingly high rate of suicide among its youth and adult population; close to 60% of all suicide deaths on Guam occur among those 30 years and younger. Suicide is the 5th leading cause of death on Guam with approximately one suicide death every two weeks. In the 2007 Focus on Life State Plan for Suicide Prevention and Early Intervention, data-driven, community-based approaches were utilized to ensure that youths, their families and communities at risk for suicide were served, particularly in the area of community outreach and education, and skills training among youth, parents, educators and youth services providers to identify and make necessary referrals to treatment.

In 2013, Guam’s Focus on Life will not only be to strengthen what has been accomplished within the recent three years, but to take action to build and expand suicide prevention and early intervention services. It is anticipated that with comprehensive and strategic planning, leveraging of funding, personnel and other resources, the problems related to suicide and the need to mobilize the state and community-level partnership to prevent continued self-harming and risk-taking behaviors would be successfully addressed.

The grant goals for the second round of Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act Grant funding (FY 2013 – 2015) will be to:
Increase the number of persons in youth-serving organizations such as schools, foster care systems, juvenile justice programs, trained to identify and refer youth at risk for suicide;
Increase the number of health, mental health, and substance abuse providers trained to assess, manage and treat youth at risk for suicide;
Increase the number of youth identified as at risk for suicide;
Increase the number of youth at risk for suicide referred for behavioral health care services;
Increase the number of youth at risk for suicide who receive behavioral health care services; and
Increase the promotion of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and Guam’s 24-Hour Crisis Hotline and Youth Helpline Services as part of Guam’s ongoing prevention media campaign and training events, to include permanent posting on www.peaceguam.org.

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