WASHINGTON, DC - In an effort to help prevent youth suicide, U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) today announced that the Rhode Island Youth Suicide Prevention Project (RIYSPP) will receive $480,000 to implement evidence-based suicide prevention education programs in selected public schools and community-based organizations throughout the state.

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death on college campuses and the third-leading cause of death for young people from age 10 to 24, resulting in 4,400 lives lost each year. 

“Many young people who commit suicide have a treatable mental illness, but they don't get the help they need.  This grant will provide critical resources for prevention and outreach efforts in Rhode Island to help reach at-risk youth before it is too late," said Reed, who is currently leading the effort to reauthorize a youth suicide prevention measure in the Senate, the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act Reauthorization of 2011, named for former Senator Gordon Smith’s son who committed suicide.

This grant will provide RIYSPP with resources to screen, identify, and refer those at-risk, and run a media campaign to help educate adults in the community to recognize who is at risk of suicide and how best to respond.  RIYSPP currently operates in Providence, Pawtucket, Central Falls, Woonsocket, Newport, and West Warwick.  In addition, RIYSPP will provide technical assistance to the RI National Guard and RI Veterans Administration to help reach military personnel and their families.

Reed has been joined by a bipartisan group of 12 of his colleagues in the Senate in support of the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act  Reauthorization of 2011. The bill would make improvements to current law, which authorized the grant that Rhode Island received today, to enhance the ability of states, tribes, colleges, and universities to implement programs aimed at preventing youth suicide. 

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