Vision: 

A Virginia ​with built environments that foster connection, belonging, and flourishing and ​where suicide is as preventable as possible. 

Goal: 

All Virginians will receive clear, coordinated, and robust support when navigating suicide. 

Approach:  

• Our work calls for a dynamic upstream approach to suicide.   

• There is no single strategy to address suicide because suicide is not an isolated individual event.​ 

• Many factors may contribute to suicide, including the conditions where we are born, grow, work, live, and age.  

6 Core Strategies: 

1. Identify Gaps in Suicide Prevention, Intervention, and Postvention: 

1. 1. 1. Collect, analyze, evaluate, and publish data. 
      2. Gather input from partner groups and people with lived experience. This input helps to understand state and local needs and opportunities. 

2. Make Prevention Efforts Stronger to Fill Gaps:  

1. 1. 1. Stand up 3 centers to provide support for settings that need suicide prevention supports. These are known as “hubs.”  
         • The K-12 School – Campus Hub supports K-12 schools, community colleges, 4-year colleges, and universities. 
         • The Virginia Zero Suicide Hub supports hospital, behavioral health, and community settings. 
         • The Virginia Postvention Hub supports suicide postvention statewide. An area of focus is K-12 schools. 
      2. Grow leaders within the hubs.

 3. Improve and Expand Care: 

1. 1. 1. Support access to high-quality clinical care and care coordination. This happens through:  
         1. Systems level change in healthcare settings using the Zero Suicide framework, 
         2. Trainings for healthcare providers, school staff, and community members. 
         3. Encouraging screening and assessment in primary care and specialist care settings, 
         4. Providing funding to 2 non-profit clinics to strengthen counseling, treatment, and follow-up care. 

 4. Support People and Communities After a Suicide Loss (Suicide Postvention):  

1. 1. 1. Provide K-12 school staff and community members with training and tools needed to prepare for and respond to a loss. 
      2. Support those who lost a loved one with grief support groups and care coordination. 

 5. Help Key Partners Work Together:  

1. 1. 1. Connect key partners, including those with lived experience through the Suicide Prevention Interagency Advisory Group (SPIAG). 
      2. Share and highlight creative strategies.  
      3. Come together to build upon current work.  

6. Use Data to Help Make Better Decisions:  

1. 1. 1. Build skills of VDH staff and key partners to understand and use data to better serve communities.