Project Name: DuPage County Health Department (DCHD) Crisis Center Follow-Up Program. DCHD, a public health department headquartered in Wheaton, IL, will develop a high-touch, high-tech countywide suicide prevention hub through expansion of its comprehensive Crisis Services follow-up program. DCHD will provide follow-up services to Nat’l Suicide Prevention Lifeline callers, DuPage County Crisis Line callers and suicidal persons evaluated in 6 countywide emergency departments or referrals from community partners using the ATC model.
Population(s): The population of focus is passively suicidal, moderately depressed persons in DuPage County, including those who call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, present at the six emergency departments identified for this project, and/or present to the DCHD Crisis Center. As the second most populous county in Illinois, DuPage County is home to 931,826 people and spans 327.5 square miles. Approximately 67.9 percent of residents are White, non-Hispanic, 14.1 percent are Hispanic or Latino, 11.4 percent are Asian, 4.7 percent are black or African American and less than one percent are American Indian/Alaska Native or Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander (American Community Survey 2013-2017 estimates).
Strategies/Interventions: Building on grants awarded through the SAMHSA National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Crisis Center Follow-up program in 2013 and 2016, DCHD is well-positioned to (1) leverage the highly collaborative partnership model developed with Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital (CDH), (2) build out this model throughout the county and (3) strengthen the impact of its mobile crisis follow-up system, greatly widening the safety net for persons at risk for suicide across DuPage County (High Touch). At the same time, DCHD will build the technological infrastructure to engage and track at-risk individuals in real time throughout the process, capture real time performance outcomes and streamline critical communications with project stakeholders (High Tech). DCHD will partner with all six hospitals in DuPage County, law enforcement agencies and other community partners.
Goal: The goal of the project is to build on the follow-up structure established through 2 rounds of previous SAMHSA Suicide Prevention Lifeline Crisis Center Follow-Up program funding to increase the number of suicidal persons receiving follow-up services on a countywide basis.
Objectives/Numbers Served: (1) 900 individuals contacted annually through program outreach efforts. (2) 675 individuals screened annually for mental health or related interventions. (3) 45 suicidal persons referred to mental health services, or other appropriate referrals per month. (540 individuals referred annually). (4) 405 (75%) of individuals receive mental health or related services after referrals (enrolled in DCHD Crisis Center Follow-Up Program). (5) 15 organizations collaborating, coordinating, or sharing resources with other organizations as a result of this grant. (6) The number of suicide attempts and completed suicides at 6-month and 12-month follow-up will decrease by 50% annually.