About RLAS

Implementing School Nursing Strategies to Reduce LGBTQ Adolescent Suicide

Reducing youth suicide in the U.S. is a national public health priority, and LGBTQ youth are at an especially elevated risk. A safe and supportive school environment is pivotal to preventing youth suicide, second only to a safe and supportive home in importance for preventing suicide and other risk behaviors. Schools are now widely accepted as part of the de facto mental healthcare infrastructure for adolescents and are a central point of intervention for improving mental health outcomes.

The collaborative research partnership between the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE), the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center (UNM), The Trevor Project, and the New Mexico Chapter of the National Association of School Nurses, the New Mexico School Nurse’s Association, is spearheading an innovative approach to reduce stigma, discrimination, and violence toward socially disadvantaged groups, and prevent youth suicide behaviors. The Reducing LGBTQ Adolescent Suicide (RLAS) project will train school staff statewide and enhance school capacity to implement the following six evidence-based strategies proven to reduce the risk of suicide:

1. Identify “safe spaces” such as a counselor’s office, designated classroom, or student organization where LGBTQ youth can receive support from administrators, teachers, other school staff, or other students.
2. Prohibit harassment and bullying based on a student’s perceived or actual sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
3. Facilitate access to providers not on school property who have experience delivering health services, including HIV/STI testing, counseling, and reproductive healthcare, to LGBTQ youth.
4. Facilitate access to providers not on school property who have experience in providing social and psychological services to LGBTQ youth.
5. Encourage staff members to attend professional development on safe and supportive school environments for all students, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
6. Provide health education curricula or supplemental materials, i.e., HIV, STI, or pregnancy prevention information relevant to LGBTQ youth (e.g., curricula or materials that use inclusive language or terminology).

Implementation of these strategies via the RLAS study will enhance school environments to promote positive mental health outcomes not simply for LGBTQ youth, but for their cisgender, heterosexual peers as well.

This work is funded by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Grant #R01HD083399