A new grant program has been established for peer to peer suicide prevention in Wisconsin schools.
The new legislation was signed by Governor Tony Evers on Wednesday. This means hundreds of Wisconsin students will be trained to recognize the signs of suicides.
Northeast Wisconsin Mental Health Connection says the funding and training could make a difference.
Wendy Harris, with Northeast Wisconsin Mental Health Connection, says the dollars could help them put more successful programs into schools, programs like Sources of Strength that rolled out three years ago, which Harris says trains students to become peer leads.
“They spread messages of hope health and strength, rather than talking about shock sadness and trauma and suicide,” Harris said. “we're flipping the script and talk about life is tough, but we can get through it we can lean into our strengths we can grow into resiliency we can support our friends.”
Next year, schools can begin applying for $1,000 grants. Total funding for all schools is $250,000.
