South Dakota tribes receive federal grants for suicide prevention

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration has awarded four South Dakota tribes a combined $4.6 million during the next 3 years to fund youth suicide prevention efforts in those communities, according to a US Department of Health and Human Services press release.

“Suicide is the third leading cause of death among American adolescents,” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said. “In fact, more children and young adults die from suicide each year than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke and chronic lung diseases combined, and American Indian communities have been particularly hard hit by this public health menace. The most tragic aspect of this is that suicide is preventable.”

The grants are being provided under the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2004 and offers funding to schools and institutions to promote early intervention and suicide prevention strategies for adolescents.

The funding will be distributed to the following organizations each year for the next 3 years:

$102,000 for the Oglala Lakota College Campus Suicide Prevention Program.

$480,000 for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Wiconi Wakan Health and Healing Center.

$480,000 for the Oglala Sioux Tribal Youth Suicide Prevention/Sweetgrass Project.

$479,300 for the Crow Creek Sioux Tribe of South Dakota.

“These grants will help states, tribes and communities across our nation build on and strengthen their youth suicide prevention programs so that they can reach more at-risk youth, giving them the help and hope they need to live long, productive lives,” Sebelius said.

For more information on the Garrett Lee Smith State-Sponsored Youth Suicide Prevention Program, click here.