Riverside City College was the receipt of a three-year $306,000 grant from the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act. Administered by the Suicide Prevention Branch within the Center for Mental Health Services, a division of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the grant solidifies the College’s dedication to a comprehensive public health approach aimed at suicide prevention.

This award is the second time the College has been awarded the grant, the first being in 2019. The grant will provide funding to establish a strategic infrastructure, including training staff, establishing a peer-to-peer program, provide prevention education events, and create a crisis-intervention plan.

Active Minds organization, which emphasizes that suicide stands as the second leading cause of death among students, says these initiatives are of paramount importance given national statistics. Alarmingly, 67 percent of students admit to initially confiding in a friend about their suicidal thoughts before seeking professional assistance.