For 16 years, Comunilife’s Life is Precious™ (LIP) program has helped Latina teens at risk of suicide. In New York State, suicide is the second leading cause of death for Latina teens and in NYC 22.8% of Latina teens seriously considered suicide in 2021, a percentage higher than their peers and 20% higher than the statistics from pre-COVID 2019.

 

When we first thought about developing LIP, our first question was “why”. Why is suicide ideation and attempt more prevalent among Latina teens? Research shows that family conflict, stress, domestic/sexual abuse, academic failure, and bullying; coupled with the stigma of mental illness and the lack of culturally competent mental health providers are contributing factors.

 

Since LIP opened, our goal has been to provide activities that the teens and their families felt would be most helpful. Our community informed approach resulted in activities that include academic support, creative arts therapies, music, health/wellness activities and family services. We understood from the beginning that for the program to be a success it was necessary to break the barriers that stopped families from accessing mental health care.  

 

LIP is unique for so many reasons, from how the program was developed and the services we provide, to our goal of having the program be accepted as a community defined, evidenced model of care by SAMHSA. What started as one center in the Bronx has now grown to centers in Brooklyn, Queens, and  Washington Heights, Manhattan. With funding from the NYS Office of Mental Health, LIP expanded beyond the borders of NYC with new sites in Poughkeepsie and Yonkers, both of which opened in February 2023. New sites in Amsterdam and Hempstead, NY will open later this year.

 

LIP’s motto “Survive, Thrive and Strive” exemplifies the program’s goals. When a teen enters a LIP, she is met by a knowledgeable and empathetic staff of professional young Latinas. Once there, she receives tutoring to improve her academic performance; takes part in creative arts therapy to work through their emotions using art, music, movement and poetry; increases her self-esteem by improving their sense of self-worth; and opens lines of communication with her family. Our teens are given the hope to imagine a future full of possibilities and the tools to achieve them.

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Even before COVID, Latina teens faced a unique set of challenges with regard to mental health including the stigma surrounding mental illness, Hispanic cultural norms of not discussing issues outside the family, acculturation stress and limited access to culturally competent mental health providers.  COVID exacerbated these issues, resulting in an on-going mental health crisis for Latina adolescents. 

 

Researchers from the NYS State Psychiatric Institute/Columbia University - NYS Center of Excellence for Cultural Competence have completed Phase Two of an LIP evaluation - control groups - where suicide ideation and depression levels among Latina teens who attend LIP were compared to Latina teens who only received traditional therapy at outpatient mental health clinics. Early findings show that, over a 12 month period, the Latina teens who also participated in Life is Precious™ had greater improvement than control group participants in outpatient mental health clinics on the SIQ (Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire) were statistically significant.

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In 2024, Our Life is Precious Program was named to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center’s Best Practices Registry.

 

In the last sixteen years, more than 750 girls, ages 12 to 18, have received services at LIP and not one has completed suicide!

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Sincerely, 

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Blanca Ramirez

President & CEO