National Strategy for Suicide Prevention:
Goals and Objectives for Action

APPENDIX D
NSSP Federal Steering Group Agency Descriptions

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is the U.S. government's principal agency for protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves. DHHS has 12 operating divisions as well as a number of specialized offices, centers and programs. Among these specialized offices are the 10 DHHS Regional Offices dispersed throughout the U.S. Each Regional Office has a Regional Director, Regional Health Administrator and other HHS components. These offices play a critical role in implementing HHS initiatives, coordinating intra- and interagency activities serving as the liaison for the Secretary and agency heads with key constituencies. Through these offices close contact is maintained with State, local, and tribal entities served through HHS programs and policies.

HHS' responsibilities include public health, biomedical research, Medicare and Medicaid, welfare, social services, and more. Several of them conduct and support important work in suicide prevention. These have provided important leadership and effort in the development of this National Strategy for Suicide Prevention : Goals and Objectives for Action and have been part of the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention Federal Steering Group (FSG) (see Acknowledgments). A brief description of each of these agencies follows.

Contact information:

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
202-619-0257
Toll Free: 1-877-696-6775
e-mail: hhsmail@os.dhhs.gov
Web address: http://www.hhs.gov

Mission: To protect and advance the health of the nation through educating the public and advocating for effective disease prevention and health promotion activities.

The Surgeon General is a highly recognized symbol of national commitment to protecting and improving the public's health. Administering a force of 6,000 U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps officers, the Surgeon General provides leadership in promoting the quality of public health practice through advancement of appropriate standards and research priorities.

Suicide prevention activities of the Office of the Surgeon General include publication of The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent Suicide (DHHS, 1999) and Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General (DHHS, 1999).

For Additional Information:

Surgeon General
Web address: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov

Mission: To promote health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides a system of health surveillance to monitor and prevent outbreak of diseases, maintains national health statistics, and supports research into disease and injury prevention. Through its centers, institutes and offices, the CDC works with partners throughout the nation and the world to monitor health, detect and investigate health problems, develop and advocate sound public health policies, implement prevention strategies, promote healthy behaviors, foster safe and healthful environments, and provide leadership and training.

Suicide prevention activities of CDC include efforts in the National Center for Health Statistics, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Adolescent and School Health, and National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. CDC maintains national data on suicides, Youth Risk Behavior Survey, and publishes reports on self-directed injury at all levels. Additional examples of CDC activities include promoting collaborations in specific communities for suicide prevention and conducting research on suicidal behavior and program evaluation.

For Additional information:

Mission: To improve the Nation's health by assuring equitable access to comprehensive quality health care for all.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) through the activities of its four bureaus and three offices, helps to ensure health resources for medically underserved populations. HRSA works to improve and extend life for people living with HIV/AIDS, provide primary health care to medically underserved people, improve health outcomes for women and children through State programs, and train a health work-force that is both diverse and motivated to work in underserved communities.

Suicide prevention activities of HRSA include programs and activities in the Bureau of Primary Health Care, HIV Aids Bureau, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, and Office of Rural Health Policy. HRSA programs promote integration of primary care and mental health services; develop and implement State suicide prevention plans and programs; ensure access to appropriate screening and services for depression through grants, contracts, technical assistance, and conference sponsorship. Through funding from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, the Children's Safety Network has developed a Youth Suicide Prevention Fact Sheet packet (www.childrenssafetynetwork.org).

For additional information:

Health Resources and Services Administration
Web address: http://www.hrsa.gov

Mission: To uphold the Federal government's obligation to promote healthy American Indian and Alaska Native people, communities, and cultures and to honor and protect the inherent sovereign rights of tribes.

The Indian Health Service (IHS) is the principal Federal health care provider and health advocate for Indian people, and its goal is to assure that comprehensive, culturally acceptable personal and public health services are available and accessible to American Indian and Alaska Native people. IHS supports network hospitals, health centers, school health centers, health stations, and urban Indian health centers.

Suicide prevention activities of IHS include consultation and technical assistance for tribes related to suicide prevention through 12 Area Offices. Additionally IHS operates 12 regional alcohol and substance abuse treatment centers for youth 12-18 years of age which includes careful assessment of suicidal ideation and suicide prevention education.

For additional information:

Indian Health Service
Web address: http://www.ihs.gov

Mission: To uncover new knowledge that will lead to better health for everyone.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) comprises 25 separate institutes and centers that conduct and support research to acquire new knowledge to help prevent, detect, diagnose, and treat disease and disability, from the rarest genetic disorder to the common cold. As the world's premier medical research organization, these institutes and centers support 35,000 research projects nationwide. Among several institutes that address suicide (National Institutes of Drug Abuse (NIDA), Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) supports the greatest proportion of research related to suicide. NIMH aims to diminish the burden of mental illness through achieving better understanding, treatment, and prevention of mental illness.

Suicide prevention activities of the NIMH include fundamental research in neuroscience, behavioral science, and genetics of mental illnesses and suicidal behavior, as well as research that directly impacts the treatment of individuals with mental disorders and those at high risk for suicidal behavior, including clinical trials and studies of treatment and preventive interventions in "real world" settings. The NIMH Suicide Research Consortium maintains a web site that includes suicide facts, currently funded studies, active NIMH program announcements pertaining to suicide research, a bibliography, reviews of measures of suicidality, and ethical and safety issues to consider in conducting research with persons at high risk for suicidality.

For additional Information:

National Institutes of Health
Web address: http://www.nih.gov

National Institute of Mental Health Suicide Research Consortium
Web address: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/SuicideResearch/consortium.cfm

Mission: To improve the quality and availability of prevention, treatment, and rehabilitative services in order to reduce illness, death, disability, and cost to society resulting from substance abuse and mental illnesses.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) provides funding to the States to support and maintain substance abuse and mental health services through Federal block grants. SAMHSA funds hundreds of programs nationwide to increase the use and improve prevention and treatment methods shown by research to be effective through "Knowledge Development and Application" grants. SAMHSA is comprised of three Centers of which one is the Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS). CMHS focuses on providing leadership in the delivery of mental health services, generating and applying new knowledge, and establishing national mental health policy. The majority of activities directly related to suicide prevention are initiated by CMHS.

Suicide prevention activities of CMHS center on initiating national grant programs to implement and evaluate suicide prevention activities. CMHS is involved in developing suicide prevention guidelines for use in our Nation's schools as well as supporting efforts to identify, through in-school assessment, those children at greatest risk of suicide. In addition, SAMHSA sponsors conferences, workshops and meetings to further national goals for suicide prevention.

For additional information:

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Web address: http://www.samhsa.gov

Center for Mental Health Services
Web address: http://www.samhsa.gov/centers/cmhs/cmhs.html

Federal Agency Liaisons to the NSSP Federal Steering Group

Department of Agriculture
Alma C. Hobbs, Ph.D.

Department of Defense
Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, M.D.

Department of Education
Bill Modzeleski

Department of Interior
Larry Blair

Department of Justice
Federal Bureau of Investigations
Unit Chief, Employee Assistance Program

Federal Bureau of Prisons
Vicki Verdeyen, Ph.D.

Department of Labor
Cate Sutter, J.D., L.L.M.

Department of Veterans Affairs
Larry Lehmann, M.D.

National Science Foundation
Patricia White, Ph.D.

Office of National Drug Control Policy
Darlind Davis

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Steve Wood, Rulemaking Attorney

Administration on Aging
Holly Schumann

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