INJURY AND VIOLENCE PREVENTION (IVP) BRANCH

Comprehensive Suicide Prevention (CSP) Program

Raising Hands

In September 2020, CDPH’s Injury and Violence Prevention Branch (IVPB) was awarded a Comprehensive Suicide Prevention Program (CSP) cooperative agreement by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (NCIPC). IVPB is one of 24 recipients awarded to implement and evaluate a comprehensive public health approach to suicide prevention, with attention to vulnerable populations.

A comprehensive approach to suicide prevention is characterized by:

Strong leadership that convenes multi-sectoral partnerships.
Prioritizations of data to identify vulnerable populations and to better characterize risk and protective factors impacting suicide.
Leveraging existing suicide prevention programs.
Selection of multiple and complementary strategies with the best available evidence to fill gaps.
Effective communication.
Rigorous evaluation of the overall approach and individual activities for quality improvement and sustainability.

The CSP program utilized data on suicide rates and self-harm emergency department (ED) visit rates as the primary criteria for identifying which California counties account for a significant proportion of the suicide burden.

Eligible counties met the following criteria:

Have higher rates of suicide deaths than the state overall.
Have higher rates of self-harm ED visits than the state overall.
Participate in the California Violent Death Reporting System (CalVDRS) (which links Coroner/Medical Examiner reports and Law Enforcement data with vital statistics in order to better understand the circumstances surrounding these deaths).

The following counties met these criteria (as of November 2020): Amador, Butte, Humboldt, Kern, Lake, Lassen, Placer, Sacramento, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Siskiyou, Sonoma and Tehama.

Training and technical assistance is being provided to these counties to support adoption, implementation and evaluation of evidence-based suicide prevention strategies, with the goal of reducing suicide rates and self-harm rates in those counties by 10%.

A few counties have been identified to receive small grant funding from the CSP Program to support implementation of CSP program strategies. Humboldt, Shasta and Santa Cruz Counties are receiving funding during Years two through five of the CSP Program (beginning in early 2022 through August 2025). Additionally, Butte, Lassen, Sacramento and Siskiyou Counties are receiving one-time funding in 2022.

California’s CSP Program has chosen the following three strategies to focus on:

Tier 1 Strategy

Community-Based Intervention

Create protective environment by implementing lethal means safety approaches for people at risk, specifically through safe storage practices. For example–The Safe and Secure Storage of Firearms and Medications Flyer (PDF) provides information regarding the safe and secure storage of firearms and medication in order to reduce access to lethal means. The Spanish version of the Safe and Secure Storage of Firearms and Medications Flyer (PDF) is available

Tier 2 Strategy

Healthcare-Related Intervention

Identify and support people at-risk through healthcare provider education (as a form of gatekeeper training).

Tier 3 Strategy

Upstream Intervention

Strengthen access and delivery of suicide care by reducing provider shortages in underserved areas through Telemental Health. The OSP and CSP Program released a data brief titled, “Tele-Mental Health Care for Children (Ages 0-17) in California (PDF).” The brief provides a summary of a statewide survey administered to California (CA’s) caregivers of children 0- to 17-years-old about their child's engagement in tele-mental health services during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic.

See the CDC Suicide Prevention Technical Package, for more information on these and other suicide prevention strategies and approaches.

Need Support Now?

988 offers 24/7 access to trained crisis counselors that provide free and
confidential support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress.