2007 Maine Marks

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Data Source: Maine YRBS, 2005



Why This is Important

The Maine Youth Suicide Prevention Program (MYSPP) is coordinated by the Maine Injury Prevention Program in the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC) in the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Major activities supported by a federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Grant include: 1) improving the collection and analysis of data to monitor youth suicide trends and project impact; 2) conducting suicide prevention public awareness education activities; 3) systematically integrating suicide prevention and intervention skill-building training within multiple training and education programs for school, college and community agency staff, service providers and clinicians; 4) increasing the accessibility of immediate support and information for at-risk youth and their families; and 5) enhancing post-suicide intervention services, care and supports to individuals and organizations.

Creating a network of individuals trained to identify and respond appropriately to youth at-risk of suicide accomplishes three things. First, it ensures that individuals are trained to intervene appropriately with suicidal youth; second, these individuals know how to connect youth to the appropriate services, and third, it ensures that individuals are supportive to the youth during the process, thus providing a safe and trusting environment for them. More adults in Maine trained in basic suicide prevention awareness education programming, provided by a trained gatekeeper, will result in an increase in successful interventions that may save more young people’s lives.

Enlarging the pool of people--teachers, employers, relatives, coaches, or neighbors--who know the risk factors and warnings signs of suicide, how to ask questions about suicidal intent, and what resources are available broadens the safety net for all youth.

Most suicidal youths confide their concerns to their peers far more often than to adults. 1 However, youth usually do not have the skills to help a friend

through a crisis alone. Having awareness and skills to seek help for themselves and for friends is critical in ensuring that a youth in crisis receives the

level of support needed in a timely way. Given that the Lifelines student lessons have shown effectiveness as a suicide prevention strategy, it is important

to train teachers to deliver the lessons across the state. More teachers trained will result in more students taught the Lifelines lessons.

Where We Stand


The MYSPP has extended its reach throughout the state, training thousands of adults to intervene with youth who may be at risk of suicide. In addition, 128 teachers have been trained to deliver the Lifelines lessons for students. These efforts have created a large cadre of individuals who have at least a basic knowledge of suicide prevention strategies. In the future, it would be useful to look at number of persons trained by county and by school district (in the case of Lifelines Teachers).  

According to the 2003 and 2005 YRBS data, 3 out of 10 (30%) of youth turn to their friends when feeling sad and hopeless; just 10% turn to parents or adult relatives and another 14% (2003) 15% (2005) did not get help. We would like to see an increase in the number of youth getting help, and more of them getting help from an adult.


Data Source and Context

Source of Data: Maine Youth Suicide Prevention Program 2006 Report to the Children’s Cabinet Maine Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), Maine Department of Education. The data source is the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System maintained by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Data from the Maine YRBS is available on-line at http://www.mainecshp.com/survey.html. National YRBS figures can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dash/yrbs. 

1 Kalafat, John, PhD. Maureen Underwood, LCSW. Susan O’Halloran, BS.Ed. Lifelines, A school-based response to youth suicide. Maine

Youth Suicide Prevention Program. October 2003.