Project Grant H79SM091132

The Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded the Guam Behavioral Health & Wellness Center $735,000 on September 30, 2026, under the Center for Mental Health Services Projects of Regional and National Significance program (CFDA 93.532) to expand the Guam Focus on Life (GFOL) program, a youth suicide prevention and crisis intervention initiative.

GFOL serves youth up to age 24 across Guam's entire territory, representing approximately 23 percent of the island's 153,000 residents. The program operates through four coordinated youth-service systems: the Guam Behavioral Health & Wellness Center Mobile Crisis Response Team, University of Guam I'Pinangon, Sanctuary Inc. (operated by Westcare Pacific Islands), and the Department of Youth Affairs. The initiative shifts Guam's suicide prevention model from standalone awareness campaigns to an accelerated, integrated, data-driven, culturally responsive crisis network addressing a public health emergency; Guam's age-adjusted suicide rate of 28.9 per 100,000 in 2024 more than doubles the provisional U.S. rate of 13.6 per 100,000, with indigenous Chamorus experiencing the highest localized rate at 57 per 100,000.

The award funds establishment of a cross-sector risk response system through formal memoranda of understanding and uniform Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale screening protocols across all four partner systems by the end of year one, targeting screening of at least 200 youth annually in years two through five to achieve a 25 percent increase in completed crisis referral pathways. The program also expands community helper capacity through structured prevention supports. Performance runs through September 29, 2031, with all work performed in Guam.