The Mental Health Association in South Carolina (MHASC) is implementing Project SAFE (Suicide Awareness for Everyone), a youth suicide prevention and early intervention initiative. This initiative aims to decrease the number of suicides and suicide attempts by collaborating with a broad array of public and private organizations, including the state Suicide Prevention Task Force. MHASC has contracted with The Center to provide an independent evaluation of its efforts.

Within systems, individuals that have close contact with youth ages 10 to 24 need to be able to recognize risk factors and know how to get help for at-risk youth. An integral part of Project SAFE is to train these gatekeepers to assist youth in getting the help they need. MHASC is implementing an evidence-based training called QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) for training gatekeepers.

Another aspect of the project is to establish support groups for suicide survivors—those who have had a loved one die by suicide. Working with the advertising agency Chernoff and Newman, Project SAFE has also created a public awareness campaign called Someone You Know.

The Center is providing evaluation services to Project SAFE to demonstrate the effectiveness of training gatekeepers and creating broad-based community support and public awareness. For more information about the evaluation of Project SAFE, please contact Rechelle Paranal at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .