Suicide in Corrections

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, across the United States and its territories. The 988 Lifeline is comprised of a national network of over 200 local crisis centers, combining local care and resources with national standards and best practices.

The American Association of Suicidology (AAS) is the largest and oldest suicide prevention membership organization in the nation, operating as a charitable 501(c)(3) nonprofit. As a membership-based organization, AAS aims to enhance its members' knowledge and best practices in the field of suicide prevention. AAS is a global leader in developing, implementing, and facilitating professional accreditation, certification, and training programs. Through its ongoing commitment to establishing standards and improving the skills and understanding of those who work with at-risk individuals, AAS maintains high standards in suicide prevention efforts.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is the agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation and to improve the lives of individuals living with mental and substance use disorders and their families.

The Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) is the only federally supported resource center devoted to advancing the implementation of the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention. SPRC is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco recently announced more than 50 innovative strategies the Department of Justice (DOJ) will utilize to reduce death by suicide of adults who are detained or incarcerated in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) or Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP).

This report presents detailed statistical tables on mortality in state and federal prisons. It provides information on cause of death; decedent characteristics, such as age, sex, and race or ethnicity; and mortality rates of inmate populations, compared to the general U.S. adult population. The report is based on the Bureau of Justice's (BJS) annual statistics, which obtains information on persons who died while in the physical custody of state departments of corrections.

This report includes statistics on demographic, criminal justice, and suicide incident characteristics and links 2019 suicides with facility-level information obtained from the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ (BJS) recent censuses of local jail and prison facilities.

Results revealed that, on average, suicide policies contain about half of the recommended elements and that some policies, including those that could improve the culture of each institution, are not included in most departmental policy documents.

Several modifiable risk factors, such as psychiatric diagnosis, suicidal ideation during the current period in prison, and single-cell occupancy, are associated with suicide among people in prison. Preventive interventions should target these risk factors and include improved access to evidence-based mental health care. Understanding other factors associated with suicide might improve risk stratification and resource allocation in prison services.

The results of this study suggest that the design and implementation of any sentinel event review process will depend on multiple factors ranging from how healthcare is delivered to the communication processes in place to the organizational culture of the jail and the legal landscape of the state where the jail is located.

The study by First HELP and the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA) Corporation identified more deaths by suicide between 2016 and 2022 than an FBI database; it emphasized the need for more accurate federal reporting.

This guide provides a road map for navigating the complexities of suicide prevention in correctional settings. Research shows that people in times of transition are at especially high risk for suicide and that there are particularly critical windows during which one can provide effective, life-saving suicide prevention interventions.