Every Question Could Save a Life: How Connecticut Children’s is Advancing Suicide Prevention

Connecticut Children’s emergency medicine physician and nationally recognized suicidology researcher Steven Rogers, MD, and Youth Suicide Prevention Center Coordinator Kristen Volz-Spessard, MS, are on a mission to change how and when we screen children for suicide risk. They’ve made universal suicide screening a cornerstone of care in the Emergency Department (ED)—ensuring that every child is asked the questions that could save their life, no matter the reason for their visit. 

Not all patients come through the doors of the Emergency Department, however, so Connecticut Children’s took another critical step. We began expanding universal suicide screening to inpatient medical-surgical floors. When the program launched on MS-6 in February 2024, we discovered that 1 in 5 patients were screening positive for suicide risk. It was a powerful reminder of just how urgent the pediatric mental health crisis is. Plans are underway to expand screening to additional inpatient floors, ensuring that every child admitted to Connecticut Children’s has their mental health needs recognized and supported. 

To make suicide screening a seamless part of care, we created Ask Suicide Questions cards, small enough to fit in a pocket and that can be kept at every nursing station. This allows nurses to sit near patients and ask screening questions without the barrier of a computer screen. The cards can be printed in multiple languages, reflecting Connecticut Children’s commitment to health equity and ensuring every patient is asked the right questions in a way they understand.

When a child screens positive for suicide risk, a social work team member helps them complete a personalized safety plan—a tool that guides them toward healthy coping strategies when they experience a crisis. Last year, we began including patient caregivers in these plans, empowering them to play a more active role in supporting a patient’s mental health.

The Youth Suicide Prevention Center also offers Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) training, a bystander intervention program that teaches individuals how to recognize the warning signs of suicide, ask the right questions, and connect someone in crisis to help. It demystifies conversations about mental health and equips people with the tools to save lives in their communities. Hundreds of individuals and organizations across the state have completed QPR training through the Youth Suicide Prevention Center.

The statistics around youth suicide are alarming: the Centers for Disease Control reports that more than 1 in 5 high school students have seriously considered suicide, and 1 in 10 have attempted it. Through the Universal Suicide Screening program and Youth Suicide Prevention Center, Connecticut Children’s is creating pathways to hope by making sure that every child’s mental health concerns are heard and supported.

The Universal Suicide Screening program and the Youth Suicide Prevention Center have been generously supported by The David & Geri Epstein Private Foundation, Children’s Hospital Association, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Cardinal Health Foundation, and the CVS Health Hometown Fund.