New funding will ensure that a growing number of high school
students—and for the first time, middle school students—in U.S.
schools will be able to help prevent suicide in their peers.
The Signs of Suicide (SOS) Program, an initiative of Screening for Mental
Health Inc., educates students through a video describing how they can
identify the symptoms of depression and suicidality in their friends and
classmates and encourages them to seek help when they believe someone may be
at risk of suicide.
According to Screening for Mental Health Inc., since the program's
inception in 2000, more than 1,500 schools across the United States have
implemented it.
Sen. Mike DeWine (R-Ohio) successfully lobbied for $100,000 to bring the
SOS program to 300 high schools throughout Ohio. In addition, a $99,000 grant
from the federal Center for Mental Health Services will bring the SOS program
to a number of new schools across the nation.
Funding from the MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation will also bring
the SOS program to an unspecified number of middle schools in
Massachusetts.
Additional information about the Signs of Suicide program is posted
online at<www.mentalhealthscreening.org>.▪