Youth Suicide Prevention Grant Program

Important dates

Overview

The Government of Alberta is committed to preventing youth suicide and improving the health and well-being of young people. Building Strength, Inspiring Hope: A Provincial Action Plan for Youth Suicide Prevention 2019 to 2024 (the Plan) is a provincial plan to reduce the rate of youth suicide and suicide attempts in Alberta.

The Plan’s vision is: An Alberta where youth feel they are heard, supported and valued and we all actively work together to prevent youth suicide.

The Youth Suicide Prevention (YSP) Grant Program invited applications for programs, services, or projects that support implementation of the Plan through targeted grant funding for evidence-informed initiatives that align with one or more of the Plan’s outcome areas, target priority youth populations at increased risk of suicide, and either:

• expand the capacity of existing initiatives to address identified suicide prevention gaps and community needs, or
• support the development and piloting of new, innovative initiatives to address identified suicide prevention gaps and community needs.

The Plan points to Alberta’s high provincial rate of youth suicide and notes that some sub-populations are at increased risk of suicide. Priority youth populations at increased risk include:

• Indigenous youth
• sexual and gender diverse youth
• youth experiencing homelessness
• youth in government care or transitioning out of care
• youth with mental health and addiction challenges
• recent immigrant and refugee youth

The 3 outcome areas targeted by the YSP Grant Program are supports and services, training, and education and awareness. More information about these outcome areas and examples of eligible activities can be found in section 2.2 of the Youth Suicide Prevention Plan Grant Guidelines (PDF, 914 KB).

For the purposes of this grant grogram, ‘youth’ includes all individuals under the age of 25.

The geographic scope of the YSP Grant Program is provincewide, including urban and rural areas, as well as Metis Settlements and Indigenous organizations.

Funding

The Youth Suicide Prevention Grant Program funding application period is now closed. The term of the current YSP Grant Program is from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2024.

Information about future funding opportunities will be updated Spring 2024.

Successful Applicants

The following organizations were selected to receive funding for the 2022-2024 Youth Suicide Prevention Grant Program.

• Camrose Open Door – Central Region
• Centre for Suicide Prevention – Provincial
• Canadian Mental Health Association Edmonton – Edmonton Region
• Free Play for Kids  – Edmonton Region
• Gift Lake Metis Settlement  – Gift Lake Metis Settlement
• Lethbridge Family Services  – South Region
• Miywasin Friendship Centre  – Medicine Hat
• Neutral Hills Learning & Community Connection Centre – Central Region
• Red Deer Native Friendship Society – Central Region
• St. Albert Food Bank and Community Village Society – Sturgeon County
• University of Calgary – Calgary Region
• YMCA of Northern Alberta – North Region

A program evaluation committee determined the successful applicants for this two-year funding period based on the posted guidelines. Selection criteria included:

• how an organization’s programming aligns with the Youth Suicide Prevention Plan outcome areas;
• if they target priority youth populations, including Indigenous youth; and,
• their ability to address gaps and community needs; and the sustainability of their programs.

The evaluation committee also based its recommendations on ensuring an equitable geographic distribution of funded projects, addressing known gaps in existing programming, leveraging existing funding, and ensuring that all targeted outcome areas were addressed.

Funding

The Youth Suicide Prevention Grant Program funding application period is now closed. Information about future funding opportunities will be updated Spring 2024.

Contact

Connect with us if you have questions regarding the Youth Suicide Prevention Grant Program:

Email: [email protected]