Lumbee Youth Suicide Prevention and Early Intervention Network - The North Carolina Youth Violence Prevention Center (NC-YVPC), designated by the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina as applicant and lead implementation agency, will create the Lumbee Youth Suicide Prevention and Early Intervention Network. The five-year project will serve Robeson County and surrounding Lumbee-serving communities in southeastern North Carolina. The project will build Tribal youth suicide prevention capacity through screening, referral, safety planning, family support, care coordination, training, postvention, and performance monitoring for youth and young adults up to age 24. Robeson County and surrounding rural communities experience high poverty, trauma exposure, violence, behavioral health need, transportation barriers, and shortages of youth mental health providers. The geographic area lacks a coordinated Tribal youth suicide prevention infrastructure that consistently identifies youth at risk, connects them to services, supports families, and coordinates prevention and postvention across child- and youth-serving systems. The project will develop this missing capacity by linking the Lumbee Tribe, NC-YVPC/VEEP, Tribal Community Health Workers, Boys & Girls Clubs and Tribal youth programs, juvenile justice/diversion partners, behavioral health providers, child welfare/foster care partners, pediatric/public health providers, schools for training and referral awareness, 988/crisis partners, and family-serving organizations. The population of focus includes Lumbee and other eligible youth and young adults up to age 24 who are at risk for suicidal ideation, suicidal behavior, self-harm, trauma-related distress, depression, anxiety, substance use, violence exposure, family instability, or system involvement. Youth served are expected to include those connected to behavioral health, victim services, juvenile justice/diversion, child welfare/foster care, pediatric/public health, crisis systems, Boys & Girls Clubs, Tribal youth programs, and community outreach events. Services will be provided based on suicide risk, behavioral health need, referral pathway, family need, and project eligibility, without unlawful demographic preference or exclusion. Parents, caregivers, and families will receive education, resource navigation, safety planning support, and postvention support when a youth is identified as at risk or affected by suicidal behavior or traumatic loss. Project strategies will include: implementing Ask Suicide-Screening Questions (ASQ) screening and early intervention procedures in at least three youth-serving systems/settings; developing a written suicide risk response protocol by the end of Year 1; strengthening referral, safety planning, lethal-means safety, 988/mobile crisis linkage, post-discharge follow-up, and postvention procedures; funding three Lumbee Tribe Community Health Workers to conduct outreach, screening, family navigation, referral coordination, and follow-up; expanding NC-YVPC’s bimonthly Lunch & Learn training; using SEE-IT interactive theater to engage youth in help-seeking, coping, peer support, and suicide prevention education; and implementing secure referral tracking, data dashboards, care coordination tools, and continuous quality improvement. The project’s goals are to: (1) increase early identification of youth suicide risk; (2) improve referral, safety planning, family engagement, and follow-up for youth identified as at risk; (3) strengthen community prevention, intervention, and postvention capacity; and (4) build a sustainable, data-driven Tribal youth suicide prevention infrastructure. Measurable objectives include screening 500 youth annually for suicide risk; providing case management/care coordination or CHW follow-up to 150 youth in Year 1 and 200 youth annually in Years 2–5; connecting 150 youth in Year 1 and 200 youth annually in Years 2–5 to mental health or related services after referral; training 200 professionals, graduate students, peers, caregivers each year.
