One in three men and one in eight women who died by suicide have spent at least one night in jail in their lifetimes.
NCHATS is an innovative suicide prevention research center funded by a $15 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health. The goal is to build information bridges between health care organizations and criminal legal systems to identify individuals at risk for suicide and connect them to care, evaluating both the clinical and cost-effectiveness of suicide prevention practices in this context.
Individuals who come into contact with criminal legal systems experience high rates of other suicide risk factors, including mental health problems, substance use, financial and housing challenges, relationship stress, exposure to violence, and access to lethal means such as firearms, vehicles, or drugs. The criminal legal system and police settings have limited mental health intervention capacity, and health systems are typically unaware of their patients’ criminal legal involvement.
Other Practice-Based Suicide Prevention Research Centers:
NCHATS is among several practice-based suicide prevention research centers funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Learn more about the complementary work being done by these centers to rapidly bridge the research to practice gap in suicide prevention.
The National Center for Health and Justice Integration for Suicide Prevention (NCHATS) includes a robust team of 36 investigators, 18 institutions, and numerous consortium partners.
Even with the known risks, suicide prevention is not typically the top priority of most police and criminal legal contacts. By bringing together jails, police, health systems/plans, judges and corrections, NCHATS will integrate and expand the public health response to suicide prevention.
The award includes funds for 15 institutions, including:
- Addiction Policy Forum
- Brown University
- Butler Hospital
- CareSource Ohio, Inc.
- Cambridge Health Alliance
- Columbia University
- George Mason University
- HealthPartners Institute
- Henry Ford Health
- Michigan State University
- Mount Auburn Hospital
- Pacific Institute for Research
- Wayne State University
- University of Pennsylvania
Pilot Project Institutions:
- University of Illinois Chicago
- UCLA
- University of Delaware
- RAND
