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

Course overview

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.