Native Connections

Mental Health Well-being in Youth

The Native Connections Program works collaboratively with community youth, families, and community leaders, alongside local youth serving agencies in the Flagstaff area. This program will design a youth guided plan of action that will focus on improvements to the local mental health/behavioral health system in an effort to reduce suicidal behavior, substance use, and some impacts of trauma, while promoting mental health well-being among youth through 24 years old.

Program Goals

  1. Increase awareness of suicide and substance abuse prevention methods for Flagstaff youth through the creation of youth guided strategies.
  2. Reduce the impact of mental health and substance use disorder through implementation of youth-based strategies.
  3. Develop a plan of action for the development of policies, procedures, and protocols that promote coordination and collaboration of youth serving agencies, with a focus on standards of care, transition of youth from one agency to another, importance of the role of local traditional healing, and helping practices to ensure youth at risk for suicide and substance use receive follow up services.
  4. Develop a plan of action to create post-intervention protocols for responding to suicides, suicide attempts, and suicide clusters. This plan will include the promotion of community healing, and reduce the possibility of contagions that include traditional and cultural practices.
  5. Develop a youth based social marketing plan for youth and families, which will provide awareness, and promote the importance and de-stigmatization of mental health.
  • Hotline/Warmlines

    National Lifeline (Anytime): 1-800-273-8255
    Crisis Response Network: 1-877-756-4090
    National Runaway Safe line: 1-800-786-2929
    National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-787-3224
    Text HOME to 741741 (Anytime)