Prevention: Where do we go from here?

• We need to enhance the public’s awareness that youth suicide is a problem and that there is something that can be done about it.
  
  
• We need to offer prevention education to youth, parents, educators and all other community “gatekeepers” so they will know the warning signs and intervention steps.
  
  
• We need to ensure that schools and colleges have the resources to identify and refer students to help.
  
  
• We need all community organizations to develop written guidelines for responding to suicidal behavior.
  
  
• We need to strengthen the safety nets in local communities and reduce the stigma that is associated with mental illness.
  
  
• We need to ensure that health care practitioners, mental health therapists, clinical psychologists, and chemical dependency counselors have the knowledge and skills to assess and intervene with an at-risk.
  
  
• We need to promote and reward help-giving and help-seeking behaviors.
  
  
• We need to believe that youth suicide is preventable.