The population of focus is adults over 25 years of age with mental illness (75%) and victims of domestic violence (25%). Services will be delivered in the Southern Suburbs of Cook County (Congressional District 2), which has a population of 694,459.[1] Many of the communities in the target area have demographics that reflect high minority, crime, unemployment, poverty, and food insecurity rates and these risk factors contribute to mental illness, anxiety and domestic violence. Community and clinical providers serving these populations are also targeted to receive suicide prevention training to ensure continuity of care and appropriate referrals to service providers. The project will serve 900 people across all activities.
Sertoma Centre, Inc. recognizes the need to quickly shift and adapt services to have the largest impact on people in our communities at any given time. During the recent shelter in place executive order Sertoma’s mental health services quickly adapted by providing individual and group services virtually and continue to shift staff positions toward services and activities most appropriate during this time. In addition, many staff continue to have face to face contact with people who are most at risk as addressing mental health is critical and “essential.” As part of this shift, Sertoma intends to develop and implement a comprehensive suicide prevention program as an emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The comprehensive program includes 1) crisis stabilization for those recently attempting suicide, 2) active mental health treatment and case management for individuals who are considered at risk for suicide completion, 3) ongoing screenings for suicidal ideation and depression 3) community outreach and professional education on suicide prevention strategies and intervention, 4) crisis support for those with active suicidal ideations, and 4) community recovery supports for people who have attempted suicide and their families. Sertoma has the established infrastructure and services to begin implementing the emergency response suicide prevention program immediately. The focus is to increase access to existing services, improve existing services, add additional supports, improve partnerships to focus on suicide prevention, and develop metrics for assessing changes in mental health and suicidal ideation. Sertoma recognizes that the risk of suicide is especially high for those who experience domestic violence during shelter in place orders. Special focus will be given to this group through several of our efforts outlined in this initiative. In addition, all other efforts are available to those who experience domestic violence this group will be identified separately in our data tracking.