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Release: January 11, 2005
Contact: Joelle Reizes, 513-683-1599
SENATOR MIKE DEWINE SUCCESSFULLY EARMARKS FEDERAL FUNDING
TO BRING YOUTH SUICIDE PREVENTION PROGRAM TO OHIO SCHOOLS
Senator Mike DeWine, R-OH, successfully garnered $100,000 of the recently passed
Federal Omnibus budget to bring an evidenced-based youth suicide prevention
program free of charge to secondary schools in Ohio.
The SOS Signs of Suicide® Program is a nationally recognized, cost-effective
program of mental health screening and suicide prevention, which can be easily
implemented by existing school personnel during one or two school periods. SOS
is a program of the nonprofit organization Screening for Mental Health, which
has an office in Cincinnati, OH. The federal funding will be used to bring the
program free of charge to Ohio schools and to train school personnel on how to
implement it.
A widely studied, evidence-based program, SOS is the first suicide prevention
program to be selected by SAMHSA for its Registry of Effective Programs. It is
the only school-based suicide prevention program that has been shown to reduce
suicidality in a randomized, controlled study (American Journal of Public
Health, March 2004).
Senator DeWine is a leader in Congress on the topic of youth suicide and was a
primary author of the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act, the first Federal suicide
prevention measure.
“I am proud to have secured funding for this very worthy program,” said Senator
DeWine, a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “We know that for
every suicide there are between 8 and 25 attempts, indicating early
intervention is the key to youth suicide prevention. This proven program will
help save the lives of our nation’s teens and young adults by getting them the
help they need.”
Ohio Department of Mental Health Director Mike Hogan, Ph.D. said, “We
appreciate Senator DeWine’s continued leadership to improve the well-being of
children. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among teens, and reducing
youth suicide is a top priority in Ohio’s Suicide Prevention Plan. We are happy
to partner with a proven effective program like SOS.”
The main teaching tool of the program is a video that teaches students how to
identify symptoms of depression and suicidality in themselves or their friends
and encourages help-seeking. The program’s primary objectives are to educate
teens that depression is a treatable illness and to equip them to respond to a
potential suicide in a friend or family member using the SOS technique. SOS is
an action-oriented approach instructing students how to ACT (Acknowledge, Care
and Tell) in the face of this mental health emergency. A kit of materials is
provided that includes a staff procedure manual and training video, student
screening forms, an educational video and discussion guide, and brochures on
suicide and depression for students and parents. Since 2000, more than 1,500
schools have implemented the program.
SOS is a program of the nonprofit organization Screening for Mental Health,
Inc., headquartered in Wellesley Hills, MA. To learn more visit its website at
www.MentalHealthScreening.org.
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Screening for Mental Health, Inc.
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