What's New at YSPP

Welcome New GLBTQ Project Coordinator to the YSPP Offices

Raynier Institute and Foundation has generously granted YSPP funds to provide services that address the particular needs of gay, lesbian and questioning youth, who we know are at higher risk for depression and suicide. Our primary objectives in this first year are to assess the GLBTQ community's capacity to prevent and intervene with youth suicide and to develop and implement prevention and early intervention strategies that are appropriate for the target population. We are thrilled by the support that the Raynier Institute and Foundation has provided us and congratulate them on their commitment to this life-saving work.

We welcome Heather Carter in her role of GLBTQ Project Coordinator. Heather graduated from Evergreen State College with a BA in Social Sciences and recently finished her MA from the School for International Training in Service, Leadership, and Management. During both of these degrees she focused exclusively on GLBTQ issues and multicultural communication. Prior to coming to YSPP, she worked in mental health, grassroots organizing, and training in diversity.

Welcome New Office Assistant to the YSPP Offices

Raquel Reyes was inspired by YSPP's mission and felt instinctively that this would be a good fit for her. She is a freelance writer and will be a student at Seattle Central Community College come September 2007. She is working towards her BA degree in an undecided major because she wants to study everything! Raquel is a voracious reader and loves being so close to Greenlake for afternoon walks. She is very excited to be part of the team at YSPP and looks forward to the challenges of the position.

     YSPP receives generous grant for suicide                 prevention among high-risk groups

The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) has been awarded a 3-year $1.2 million grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).  The focus of the 3-year project is to reduce youth suicides among several high-risk groups: Native American youth, youth in foster care and college students. The project has five major goals:

• To implement evidence-based suicide prevention practices;
• To raise awareness of suicide, its associated risks and resources for help;
• To increase the individual skills of caregivers to respond to suicidal youth;
• To increase a community's capacity to respond to suicidal youth; and
• To strengthen cross-system collaboration at local and statewide levels that result in stronger suicide prevention practices across the state.

YSPP will be working under contract with DOH to provide on-going technical assistance and consultation to the project partners.  These include the Colville Nation, Tulalip Tribes, Community Youth Services (Thurston County) and a consortium of four colleges and universities in Pierce County (University of Puget Sound), Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma Community College and the Tacoma branch of the University of Washington).  YSPP will also participate in a significant evaluation of this project to help gauge the progress of meeting the goals and to help inform the suicide prevention field of promising and effective programs for further implementation.

YSPP is very pleased to be a part of this partnership.  We embrace the grant's tenet of collaboration:  "DOH, YSPP and the seven target communities together at "the table" working through each aspect of the project:  planning, implementation and evaluation."  Periodic progress reports will be posted on this site.

Welcome New Eastern Washington School-based Coordinator

Sandy Williams has a BS in Clinical Psychology from Washington State University and a Master's of Fine Arts in Film/TV Production from USC. Before her recent return to Spokane. Sandy was the southern California project coordinator for the Gay-Straight Alliance Network. Between 1991 and 1995 she was a community organizer and AIDS prevention educator for POCAN (People of Color AIDS Network in Spokane. She has written and directed a documentary focused on the issues facing children who have gay/lesbian parent; the film is called, "Caught in the Crossfire".

Welcome New Puget Sound School-based Coordinator

Kelly Chatwood holds a Masters' degree in Public Health from Oregon State University. She is currently working for the Kitsap County Health District as their suicide prevention coordinator. She previously worked as a child and adolescent treatment specialist for Children's Farm Home in Corvallis, Oregon and was the program assistant for STARS (Students Today Aren't Ready for Sex) - a Benton County Health Department program. She serves on the Board of the northwest chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Welcome New H.E.L.P. Project Coordinator

Lisa Watson joins YSPP for an 11-month temporary position to coordinate the H.E.L.P. project and we are so happy to have her on the team. Lisa holds a master's degree from UCLA in Behavioral Sciences & Health Education. She has extensive experience working as a health educator/consultant for Seattle/King County Public Health Department and her obvious passion is kids. Lisa will be recruiting the 36 participating schools, facilitating the training of health teachers and supporting them in the delivery of the H.E.L.P. curriculum. She will also work closely with Organizational Research Services on the design of the data collection tools.

Welcome New Operations Manager to the YSPP Offices

YSPP welcomes Jan Leonard to a new position within the organization; operations manager. Jan will provide day-to-day oversight and supervision for YSPP office functions. She will ensure that the website is of the highest quality; she will oversee production of the quarterly newsletter and annual report; she will manage the ACCESS database and recruit volunteers. Whew - that's a LOT!

But Jan has the skills and passion to work at YSPP and we are lucky to have her. Prior to coming to YSPP, she worked for Battelle Centers for Public Health Research & Evaluations where she spent many years managing survey operations. Jan's abilities to manage multiple tasks simultaneously, her ability to communicate clearly, her strong computer skills and her eagerness to embrace the mission of YSPP made her a perfect fit for the job. WELCOME!!