Western Wayne Suicide Prevention Coalition Drives Change in Student Mental Health

For young people and suicide risk, the numbers tell the story. According to the CDC, suicide is the second leading cause of death for children ages 10-14.

“I think people know that. But the bigger factor is that it’s increasing,” says Brian Galdes, Suicide Prevention Coordinator with Western Wayne Suicide Prevention Coalition. “(Suicide) used to be the third leading cause of death and now it’s the second leading cause of death. The numbers are going up, not down.”

It’s Galdes’ job to pay attention to these numbers — and work with local school districts to help move the statistics in the other direction. But Galdes also has a deeply personal reason for his passion for preventing youth suicide. His stepdaughter, Bethany, died by suicide at 17. “She was an honor student, beautiful, very artistic and had an engaging personality. She also battled with depression. Because of the depression, she did not see herself in that way,” he says.

About 10 years ago, in response to a community needs assessment, Trinity Health established the Western Wayne Suicide Prevention Coalition (WWSPC). Then, four years ago, Galdes reached out to Nick Griswold, CEO at Growth Works, a behavioral health agency based in Wayne County, to ask how they could work together to further the initiative on student mental health and suicide prevention. Growth Works committed to provide funding for a full-time coordinator role at WWSPC — an action that helped the organization gain focus and traction. Galdes is the second individual to fill the coordinator role (the first, also a former educator, retired and moved up north) and WWSPC is funded in part by a grant from the Flinn Foundation.

Nine school districts and two health systems

WWSPC members include: Northville Public Schools, Plymouth-Canton Community Schools, Livonia Public Schools, Wayne-Westland Community Schools, South Redford School District, Redford Union Schools, Garden City Public Schools, Clarenceville School District, Taylor School District, Corewell Health and Trinity Health.

In all, WWSPC represents about 65,000 students. Galdes recognizes this number for what it means in relation to other CDC statistics related to youth mental health and suicide:

“If you look at a school district like Northville, the high school has about 2,600 students. If you extrapolate that 9%, the number would be 230 Northville High School students have attempted a suicide in the last 12 months,” he says. “I’m not saying that there’s a documented 230, but if you just extrapolate those numbers,” you get an idea of the impact.

“This crosses socioeconomic standards, this crosses race, this crosses religion. This really is everybody’s problem,” he adds.

Bringing people together to build supportive networks

Initially, WWSPC brought together social workers and counselors from the nine districts for an open conversation and to explore effective ways to support them and the students they serve. A steering committee was formed with two individuals from each district: one boots-on-the-ground person who works with students and one district-level decision making administrator with direct access to the superintendent.

“We’ve trained about 5,500 adults, bus drivers, teachers, administrators, crossing guards, in QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer),” Galdes says, adding that it’s a goal to also train every high school student in QPR. Every district and both hospital systems have agreed to use a common screener.

“And so now people are talking the same when they’re talking to kids and families in crisis,” he says. “We also provide a lot of professional development for mental health professionals that work in schools.” Each fall, WWSPC hosts a conference, with 350 attendees last year and an anticipated 450 this year.

Silos are beginning to evaporate because districts now have a network of like-minded people to brainstorm with and provide mutual support. This is especially helpful when suicides do occur because support staff can come in from a neighboring districts to provide help that is one step removed. And, local legislators have visited the schools, talked with staff and toured the emergency room at Trinity Health Livonia to learn more about adolescent mental health.

The coalition has also developed subcommittees to research solutions for common issues and concerns and best practices. Other initiatives developed by the coalition since 2021 include establishing a data collection system to measure program effectiveness and to help maintain funding to support ongoing work.

Present and future initiatives to move the numbers in the right direction

In 2024-2025 and beyond, WWSPC will focus on:

In 2023, Trinity Health Livonia received the Ludwig Award from the Michigan Hospital Association for its partnership with and support of WWSPC, an honor that included $5,000 “to assist in health improvement efforts.”

Every initiative the WWSPC launches is designed to continue putting resources into the schools to help students and families, Galdes says. “We really have to attack stigma. It’s a huge impediment to us making a big difference to moving that needle down as opposed to that needle still going up,” he says, quoting a University of Michigan survey that estimates 40,000 adolescents in Michigan identified as having a mental health condition, but aren’t getting treatment due to stigma, access to care or affordability.

“I keep telling my steering committee this is a marathon. It’s not a sprint,” says Galdes. “It’s going to take time but we have to do something. We have to make a difference. Ten percent of our high school students have attempted suicide — it’s just not acceptable.”

This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline is available by calling or texting 988. Learn more about Western Wayne Suicide Prevention Coalition through Growth Works. Visit gwcares.org.