The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration won't renew a grant that the state of North Dakota used to target suicide among Native and rural youth.

In 2006, the state received a three-year, $1.2 million that paid for suicide prevention projects on four reservations. But the money is about to run out and options are limited for more funding.

“Unless we can find another grant, we won’t have very much to work with,” Gail Erickson, the suicide prevention director for the state Department of Health, told The Fargo Forum.

SAMHSA also denied a suicide prevention grant to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe despite 51 suicide attempts on the reservation this year alone. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota), the chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, helped secure a one-year, $400,000 emergency grant to keep the tribe's program running.

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Suicide prevention funds running out in North Dakota (The Fargo Forum 11/30)
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