Suicide Prevention and Juvenile Re-Entry: Family as the Focal Point

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Abstract

Adolescents involved in the juvenile legal system have suicide rates three times higher than their non-involved peers, and the research-to-practice gap is evident in clinical work with these adolescents. A clinical vignette illustrates the use of a family-based program that incorporates three evidence-based clinical tools: the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale, the Ask Suicide Questions instrument, and the Safety Planning Intervention. Family involvement in restricting lethal means was important to maintain safety during re-entry; however, this aspect of the written safety plan (e.g., “Keeping the Environment Safe”), among others, needed improvement. The case illustrates two key aspects of suicide prevention that can be overlooked in practice: lethal means restriction and social support. Research is warranted to understand the unique needs of juvenile legal system adolescents with suicidality, especially during re-entry.

Continuing Education Information

1 CE Credit, Instructional Level: Intermediate

1 Contact Hour (New York Board of Psychology)

Learning Objectives:

  1. Discuss evidence-based clinical tools for suicide intervention
  2. Identify the importance of social support in suicide prevention
  3. Describe the importance of restriction of access to lethal means in suicide prevention

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CE Disclaimers

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Snyder et al.

Sean E. Snyder, DPA, MSW, LCSW (he/him), is the Associate Director of Implementation at the Baker Center for Children and Families. His interests include implementation of evidence-based interventions for children and the intersection of traumatic stress and suicidality.

Jordyn Daehnke, M.S.Ed. (she/her), is a licensed mental health clinician providing individual and family therapy to adolescents who are held in secure detention. She is passionate about criminal justice reform and hopes to increase access to mental health resources for adolescents impacted by the juvenile legal system.

Consuelo Cagande, MD (she/her), is the Division Chief of Community Care and Wellness and Senior Associate Program Director and Fellowship Advisor in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Dr. Cagande is also a Center for Violence Prevention Practice-based Scholar at CHOP.

Jocelyn Meza, PhD (she/her), is an Assistant Professor In-Residence and Licensed Clinical Psychologist in the Psychiatry Department at UCLA. Her primary area of research interest includes the examination of structural and sociocultural risk and protective factors associated with suicide and self-harm among ethnoracially minoritized youth.

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