SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — IDPH awarded a $440,000 grant to DuPage School District 88 used to launch an online portal where students can make contact with "care navigators" who can help connect them to mental health services. Now, the portal has been made into a statewide resource.

The grant funding comes from the U.S. Substance Abuse and mental Health Service Administration as part of the Garett Lee Smith State/Tribal Youth Suicide Prevention and Early Intervention Program. 

Sarah Patrick, Division Chief of the Division of Emerging Health Issues at the Illinois Department of Public Health said the IDPH is awarded about $75,000 a year to help with suicide prevention programming. Patrick said that as of late, they have been focusing on how to reduce suicide risk in the state of Illinois. "What do you do in a community when a suicide has taken place? And how do you care for the people around that person who died and provide resources to them? And in the suicide world, that's called postvention."

The grant began as a way to provide services after a student has attempted or committed suicide, in order to help other students and community members deal with the trauma.

However, after the creation of a portal powered by Referral GPS, members of IDPH realized that many of the resources provided could help Illinois at large. "What they found when they started pulling up resources for victims and families and community [members] and for school administrators...was that a lot of resources were statewide or even national." explained Patrick. Now, the Adolescent Suicide Postvention Portal is available statewide. 

The portal hosts a plethora of resources: advice on how to talk to your children about suicide and what services are available, how schools can help support students, and how to move toward healthy grieving and coping mechanisms. It also will provide "triage" of incoming inquiries and direct those seeking help to an appropriate clinical provider. Telehealth services will also be available for students in remote areas. "We're really trying to help bring on as many allies as possible so that kids know that they can receive services...we want people to know that suicide is preventable and that you are not alone." said Patrick. 

Students can access the service online or by texting "HOME" to 741741. Anyone in an emergency situation or in need of immediate assistance should contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

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