Iowa’s Center of Excellence for Behavioral Health (CEBH) hosted a Youth Suicide Prevention Summit in September to support the state’s expanded plan for systematic youth suicide prevention efforts. The summit brought together 95 behavioral health service providers, agency leadership, state staff, and community members to address suicide risk among Iowa’s youth. Summit participants learned about evidence-based practices for suicide prevention and about the value that partnerships and community cohesion bring to youth suicide prevention.
“The summit highlighted the value of collective discussion and planning for such an important issue,” said Torie Keith, LMSW, program manager for CEBH, which is based at the Center for Disabilities and Development (Iowa’s UCEDD). “Speakers and participants spoke with passion throughout the day, and energized future efforts and planning to prevent suicide and save lives in our state.”
Iowa’s CEBH has been funded through a grant from the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services since 2022. CEBH was created to promote centralized and evidence-based practices for behavioral health throughout the state, providing training and technical assistance, which first focused on assertive community treatment (ACT), individualized placement and support (IPS), and permanent supportive housing (PSH). CEBH expanded its areas of focus to include prevention and suicide prevention in 2024.
The expansion of CEBH aligns with Iowa’s reorganization of its mental health and substance use services. CEBH now plays an important role in the state’s new Behavioral Health Services System, which launched on July 1, 2025. In July and August, CEBH virtually provided a six-part webinar series on the foundational concepts in behavioral health prevention, aligning with the states’ reorganization to prioritize prevention efforts. And just prior to the Suicide Prevention Summit, CEBH hosted the training, “Youth Suicide - Clinical Implications and Interventions: 2025” which offered an in-depth exploration of current trends, disparities, and emerging challenges in youth suicide prevention. Learn more about Iowa CEBH: https://www.iowacebh.org/
Get in touch with the Iowa CEBH team: [email protected].
