SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT: EFFECT ON SUICIDE PREVENTION PROGRAM

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Prevention of youth suicide is a national health priority, and school suicide prevention programs are a key component of the nation's strategy to address the crisis of youth suicide. Yet, little is known about the factors that affect the implementation and modification of these programs in school systems. This exploratory study will use qualitative and quantitative research methodologies to examine the current implementation of the LAUSD Youth Suicide Prevention Program (YSPP), a district-wide program that provides prevention and crisis intervention services consistent with the CDC's recommended School Gatekeeper for Suicide Prevention in Schools. We will use the most recent 2 years of records generated by the YSPP across all high schools in the district to examine variations in the implementation of crisis interventions with suicidal students. We will interview key informants (e.g. school administrators, crisis intervention staff, and teachers) to develop a richer understanding of how this program is being implemented in high schools across the district, what barriers to model implementation exist, and how it is being modified. The specific aims include: 1. Identifying the variation of YSPP implementation across high schools in the LAUSD. 2. Examining how variation in YSPP implementation is related to the key dimensions of the school environment. 3. Exploring how contextual factors in the school facilitate and impede the implementation of the YSPP. 4. Exploring how schools are modifying the YSPP, and the relationship between these modifications and school environment. This exploratory study will result in a better understanding of which, in the multitude of potential factors, are the key factors that most greatly influence the actual implementation of the YSPP in LAUSD, and serves as our first step in a new line of research designed to improve youth suicide preventions efforts by developing programs that can be effectively implemented in today's schools.