The Kansas Department of Health has been awarded a grant to support safer suicide care in state behavioral health and healthcare systems.
The grant, from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, is for implementation of Zero Suicide in Health Systems, a model and framework for prevention. KDHE plans to work with partners including Veterans Affairs and the 26 licensed Community Mental Health Care Systems in every county, bringing in $700,000 per year for five years to those efforts.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, suicide is the second leading cause of death in people aged 10 to 34 and the 10th leading cause of death in the U.S. A May study by Well Being Trust said annual deaths to alcohol drugs or suicide exceeded 150,000 in 2018 and could get worse due to COVID-19. The rates were higher in minority communities.
Pawnee Mental Health will receive a portion of the funding, but an exact amount has not yet been determined.
