Natalie Kelly: What Florida is doing about suicide prevention

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September is Suicide Prevention Month, and it’s an important time to raise awareness about suicide and suicide prevention.

3,445 Floridians lost their lives to suicide in 2022, and one person died by suicide every 11 minutes in the U.S. Additionally, nearly 4 million Americans planned to die by suicide, and almost 2 million attempted suicide in 2022.

In Florida, if an individual considering suicide calls 9-8-8, that one call puts them on a path not only to speak with a trained individual during their greatest time of need but also connects them with community-based resources that support that individual for the weeks and months that follow — often not only addressing the initial mental health crisis but also longer-term needs, such as mental health and substance use disorder, behavioral health services, transitional housing, employment and more through care coordination.

Florida’s seven Managing Entities oversee the state’s behavioral health safety net system that connects behavioral health resources with Florida’s uninsured population and also oversees the providers that serve Florida’s broader population with services such as Crisis Stabilization Units, Mobile Response teams for individuals in crisis, and prevention and awareness campaigns.

Various programs help stabilize individuals and connect them with lifesaving behavioral health services, engaging partners such as faith-based and veteran communities.

Some of these programs include: Mobile Response Teams of highly trained counselors that de-escalate situations; high level of care coordination for individuals; hospital bridge programs that coordinate services after an individual is stabilized in the emergency department; and school mental health services among other behavioral health services.

Florida’s Managing Entities collaborate with providers that deliver services to over 300,000 of Florida’s most vulnerable residents, including children, expectant mothers, veterans and the chronically homeless. Additionally, the system provides millions of Floridians with preventive services and reaches hundreds of thousands more through indirect preventive services, such as education initiatives.

Connecting individuals experiencing a mental health crisis with immediate behavioral health services saves lives. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, call 9-8-8.

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Natalie K. Kelly is CEO of the Florida Association of Managing Entities.