For the first time, in 2024, the National Strategy takes a “whole of government” approach. It was developed in collaboration with a federal Interagency Work Group, consisting of over 20 agencies and offices in 10 departments across the federal government. Support came from the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) and the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention (Action Alliance), guided by a project management team co-led by officials at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), alongside the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE/HHS). Input and feedback from outside of the federal government came from a national needs assessment reaching more than 2,000 respondents and multiple listening sessions with people with lived experience, populations disproportionately affected by suicide, community members, practitioners, and suicide prevention experts.
