NAMI Ask the Expert: The AAP and AFSP Blueprint for Youth Suicide Prevention: Opportunities to Support Youth and Families OD047

An on-demand video and transcript of the presentation are available here [opens in new tab].

About The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. They are an alliance of more than 650 local Affiliates and 49 State organizations who work in your community to raise awareness and provide support and education to people with mental illness and their loved ones. Through awareness, advocacy and education, NAMI is committed to building stronger communities and a better future for everyone affected by mental illness.

Course Summary

Practice Level: Beginner

This course, based on the Ask the Expert webinar series by NAMI, summarizes the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) Blueprint for Youth Suicide Prevention and translates its recommendations into practical strategies across clinical, school/community, and policy settings. Content emphasizes the public health approach to suicide prevention, including universal and targeted identification of suicide risk, evidence-informed responses, and the role of cross-system partnerships to improve continuity of care. The course also addresses equity considerations, describing how structural inequities and discrimination contribute to disparities in suicide risk and access to effective supports. Learners will leave with an implementation-oriented understanding of how to support youth and families through screening, appropriate triage, community prevention strategies, and advocacy priorities. 

With an intended audience of social workers, psychologists, marriage and family therapists, and counselors, who routinely assess risk, deliver brief interventions, coordinate care, and collaborate with schools and health systems, this course makes the Blueprint’s screening-to-triage pathway, safety planning, lethal means counseling, and community/policy strategies directly applicable to their clinical and systems roles.

Course Format

This course contains a participant guide, practice test, and on-demand video. When you’re ready, purchase the course by clicking the “Add To Cart” or “Enroll” button. This will let you take the test, complete the course evaluation and receive your certificate for CE credits.

Learning Objectives

1. Identify core components of the Blueprint’s three-tiered clinical pathway.
2. Describe evidence-informed community and school suicide prevention strategies, including partnership-building and postvention planning.
3. Recognize policy and systems-level priorities that improve equitable access to youth suicide prevention and crisis response supports.

Course Syllabus

• Youth suicide prevention overview and equity considerations
• Clinical setting strategies: universal screening, brief suicide safety assessment, and safety planning
• Community and school strategies: prevention programs, partnerships, and postvention
• Advocacy and policy strategies: workforce, coverage, crisis response, and lethal means safety

Current References

American Academy of Pediatrics. (2022). Bright Futures/American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations for preventive pediatric care (periodicity schedule).https://www.aap.org/en/practice-management/bright-futures/bright-futures-materials-and-tools/bright-futures-guidelines-and-pocket-guide/[opens in new tab]

American Academy of Pediatrics. (n.d.). Screening for suicide risk in clinical practice (Blueprint for Youth Suicide Prevention).https://www.aap.org/en/patient-care/blueprint-for-youth-suicide-prevention/strategies-for-clinical-settings-for-youth-suicide-prevention/screening-for-suicide-risk-in-clinical-practice/[opens in new tab]

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, & Suicide Prevention Resource Center. (2018). After a suicide: A toolkit for schools (2nd ed.).https://sprc.org/sites/default/files/resource-program/afterasuicidetoolkitforschools.pdf[opens in new tab]

Aseltine, R. H., Jr., Sacco, S. J., Rogers, S., Wang, F., Schwartz, H., & Chen, K. (2025). Screening and risk algorithms for detecting pediatric suicide risk in the emergency department. JAMA Network Open, 8(9), e2533505. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.33505[opens in new tab]

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017). Preventing suicide: A technical package of policies, programs, and practices.https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/44275[opens in new tab]

Congressional Black Caucus Emergency Task Force on Black Youth Suicide and Mental Health. (2019). Ring the alarm: The crisis of Black youth suicide in America (Report to Congress).https://watsoncoleman.house.gov/imo/media/doc/full_taskforce_report.pdf[opens in new tab]

Hennefield, L., Luking, K. R., Tillman, R., Barch, D. M., Luby, J. L., & Thompson, R. J. (2026). Asking preadolescents about suicide is not associated with increased suicidal thoughts. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 65(1), 34–41.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2025.03.025[opens in new tab]

Kroenke, K., Spitzer, R. L., & Williams, J. B. W. (2001). The PHQ-9: Validity of a brief depression severity measure. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 16(9), 606–613.https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x[opens in new tab] 

Marcus, S. C., Cullen, S. W., Xie, M., Bridge, J. A., Caterino, J. M., Schmutte, T., & Olfson, M. (2025). Evaluating the effect of routine lethal means counseling in the emergency department on suicide mortality among mental health patients. AJPM Focus, 4(4), 100336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.focus.2025.100336[opens in new tab]

Mayo Clinic. (n.d.). Teen suicide prevention [Video].https://www.mayoclinic.org/vid-20141366[opens in new tab]

McArthur, B. A., Pesigan, K. L., Berg, L., Sin, G., Singh, S., & McClurg, C. (2026). Suicidality and nonsuicidal self-injury in transgender and gender diverse youth: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Pediatrics, 180(2), 144–151. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2025.5274[opens in new tab]

National Institute of Mental Health. (n.d.). Ask Suicide-Screening Questions (ASQ) toolkit.https://www.nimh.nih.gov/research/research-conducted-at-nimh/asq-toolkit-materials[opens in new tab]

Qu, D., Liu, B., Zhang, X., Cai, C., Chen, D., Liu, D., Wen, X., Wu, Z., Sun, S., Saxena, S., An, J., & Chen, R. (2026). School-based suicide prevention using the gatekeeper programme: A cluster-randomized trial. Nature Health, 1, 251–261. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44360-025-00037-2[opens in new tab]

Rogers, S. C., Sacco, S. J., Volz, K., Chenard, D., Borrup, K., Chen, K., & Aseltine, R. H., Jr. (2025). Feasibility and importance of universal suicide screening in a pediatric emergency department. PLOS ONE, 20(6), e0321934. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0321934[opens in new tab]

Seize the Awkward. (n.d.). Seize the Awkward: Talk with a friend about mental health.https://seizetheawkward.org/[opens in new tab]

The Joint Commission. (n.d.). National Patient Safety Goal 15.01.01: Suicide prevention (behavioral health care and hospital settings).https://www.jointcommission.org/standards/national-patient-safety-goals/[opens in new tab]

Instructors

Lisa Horowitz PhD, MPH, Senior Staff Scientist at the National Institute of Mental Health

Dr. Lisa Horowitz, PhD, MPH, is a Pediatric Psychologist and a Senior Associate Scientist at the National Institute of Mental Health at NIH. Dr. Horowitz received her doctorate in clinical psychology from George Washington University, completed a Pediatric Health Service Research Fellowship at Harvard Medical School, and obtained a Masters in Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health. The major focus of Dr. Horowitz’s research has been in the area of suicide prevention in the medical setting. She is lead PI on five NIMH suicide prevention protocols that involve validating and implementing tools for clinicians, such as the Ask Suicide-Screening Questions (ASQ). She is also one of the co-authors of the Blueprint for Youth Suicide Prevention, released by the American Academy of Pediatrics this past March. Dr. Horowitz is collaborating with hospitals and outpatient clinics around the country, assisting with implementation of suicide risk screening and management of patients who screen positive using the ASQ Toolkit and Clinical Pathways, nimh.nih.gov/ASQ

Christine Moutier MD, Chief Medical Officer of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

Dr. Christine Yu Moutier (pronounced You Moo-tee-ay) knows the impact of suicide firsthand. While in medical training and in her early career at the University of California, San Diego, she experienced a series of tragic losses, igniting a passion to learn more about what science can tell us about suicide risk and prevention; how suicide affects communities and the role individuals, family members, colleagues and community leaders can play in reducing suicide risk. Since earning her degree, Dr. Moutier has been a practicing psychiatrist, professor of psychiatry, dean in the medical school, and medical director of the Inpatient Psychiatric Unit at the VA Medical Center in La Jolla, treating diverse patient populations. 

A leader in the field of suicide prevention, Dr. Moutier joined the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) in 2013 as Chief Medical Officer. Her connection to the organization began earlier, as a volunteer in 2006, when she co-founded AFSP’s San Diego chapter and also co-led a successful suicide prevention program for health science faculty, residents, and students at UCSD, utilizing AFSP’s groundbreaking Interactive Screening Program (ISP). ISP has since been implemented by several hundred companies and health systems, and has received recognition from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and the U.S. Surgeon General.   

Her passion and commitment have been instrumental to AFSP’s ability to create lasting impact through research, education, advocacy and support for those affected by suicide, delivered to a diverse range of communities throughout the U.S. Throughout her career Dr. Moutier has focused on fighting stigma and optimizing care for those experiencing mental health conditions. She has prioritized equipping healthcare, law enforcement, media and other industry leaders with the knowledge and tools to change the culture related to mental health. 

Dr. Moutier has authored Suicide Prevention, a Cambridge University Press clinical handbook. She has also contributed articles and book chapters for publications such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, the Lancet, Academic Medicine, the American Journal of Psychiatry, the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, Depression and Anxiety, and Academic Psychiatry. She has testified before Congress, presented at the White House and National Academy of Sciences, and provided Congressional briefings on suicide prevention. As a leading content expert, she co-anchored CNN’s Emmy Award-winning Finding Hope suicide prevention town hall with Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and regularly provides comment and guidance to journalists and top media outlets.  

Dr. Moutier has received numerous awards, such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness’ (NAMI) Scientific Research Award; NAMI’s Outstanding Psychiatrist of the Year Award; the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology’s Media Award; and the Schwartz Center’s National Compassionate Caregiver Award, as well as being inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society.  

Through her determination to leverage science and represent those impacted by suicide, Dr. Moutier is advancing AFSP’s mission of saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide.  

Tamar Haro, Senior Director of State and Federal Advocacy at the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Tamar Magarik Haro has spent more than 17 years working in health care policy and public health where she has shaped many of the most consequential laws affecting the lives of millions of Americans, especially children. In Tamar’s role on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, she played a key role in writing and negotiating the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act with a particular focus on consumer protections, insurance market reforms, and public health. While on the HELP Committee, she also played a critical role in the development and passage of the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, the PREEMIE Act, the Newborn Screening Saves Lives Act, the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act, among others. Both on and off Capitol Hill, Tamar is looked to for her knowledge of and strategic insights on Food and Drug Administration-related laws, regulations, and policies affecting children. Currently at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), where she oversees teams in DC and in Itasca, IL that includes federal and state advocacy staff, Tamar is a proven leader and seasoned advocate for pediatricians and children. She serves as principal advisor to AAP leadership and its 67,000 members on policy and advocacy related to immigrant child health, nutrition, mental health, and disaster preparedness and provides leadership on federal and state advocacy initiatives related to insurance coverage, Medicaid and CHIP, and Food and Drug Administration policy. Her tenacity and expertise on policy and legislative strategy resulted in the enactment and first-ever funding of pediatric tele-mental health grants totaling $50 million over 5 years. Tamar is a frequent public speaker to physician and non-physician audiences on advocacy and policy.

Nicole Errickson, LCSW

Nicole is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in the state of Georgia. She brings over 19 years experience in the social work field, primarily working in school systems as a school social worker and with the McKinney-Vento grant. Over her career, Nicole has had several opportunities to help develop and execute professional development events. Nicole has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of South Alabama and a Masters in Social Work from the University of Alabama.

Accreditation Approval Statements

CE4Less.com is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. CE4Less.com maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

CE4Less.com, provider #1115, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 8/8/24-8/8/27.

Social workers completing this course receive 1 clinical continuing education credit.

We are committed to providing our learners with unbiased information. CE4Less never accepts commercial support and our authors have no significant financial or other conflicts of interest pertaining to the material.