Reducing Access to Lethal Means Among People at Risk in Communities with Disproportionately Affected Populations

Through federal funding the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) Violence and Injury Prevention Section will provide support to one organization for the purpose of implementing the reduction to lethal means and to educate safe storage among people at risk in communities with disproportionately affected populations, under the CDC Expansion of Comprehensive Suicide Prevention Across the U.S. Grant Program. Funding is available through a grant from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Expansion of Comprehensive Suicide Prevention Across the U.S. Grant Program. This funding opportunity supports implementation and evaluation of a comprehensive public health approach to suicide prevention in the U.S. This approach a) convenes and connects multisectoral partners (e.g., public health, mental health, people with lived experience); b) uses data to identify vulnerable populations (i.e., disproportionately affected populations [DAP]), understand contributors to suicide, and track trends in morbidity/mortality; c) assesses gaps in existing programs in the jurisdiction (d) implements complementary strategies with the best available evidence from Preventing Suicide: A Technical Package of Policy, Programs, and Practices; and e) communicates trends, progress, successes, and lessons learned to partners. The approach is rigorously evaluated with a focus on continuous quality improvement and sustained impact. The purpose is to implement and evaluate the comprehensive approach, with attention to one or more DAP, (e.g., veterans, rural communities, tribal populations, LGBTQ, homeless, other) that account for a significant proportion of the suicide burden and/or have suicide rates greater than the general population in a jurisdiction(s) (e.g., state, county, tribe). Key outcomes include a 10% reduction in suicide morbidity and mortality in the DAP(s), in the chosen jurisdiction.