LIFE IS PRECIOUS™
Celebrating its 15th anniversaryin 2023, Life is Precious™ (LIP) is a Suicide Prevention program for at-risk Latina teens. In 2023, LIP expanded beyond NYC to include programs in Poughkeepsie and Yonkers in addition to its sites in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Manhattan. The only program of its kind in the country, LIP provides services that relate directly to the risk factors associated with suicide ideation and attempt.
Visit the LIP Website Site >
Latina Adolescent Suicide Prevention
Life is Precious™ Program
Opened in 2008, LIP has four program sites in NYC: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan (Washington Heights). In February 2023, Comunilife expanded LIP's services to Poughkeepsie and Yonkers.
Each afternoon, the teens take part in activities that help alleviate the risk factors associated with Latina adolescent suicide including academic support, expressive arts therapies, health & wellness activities and family services. In FY 2023, 240 Latina teens and their families accessed services. To be eligible for Life is Precious™, the girls must be enrolled in and regularly attending school, under the care of a mental health clinician and have parents/guardians’ permission.
Our goal is to show that LIP is a community informed, evidenced based model of care. Researchers
have completed Phase Two - control groups - where suicide ideation and depression levels among Latina teens who attend LIP are compared to Latina teens who only received traditional outpatient therapy. Early findings show that, over a 12 month period, the Latina teens who also participated in LIP had a statistically significant improvement on the SIQ (Suicidal Ideation Questionnaire) than their peers only receiving outpatient services
What Life is Precious™ Achieves
LIP offers activities that allow the teens to thrive by finding their unique voice and strive by providing the tools to
help them envision and achieve goals. Through LIP the girls have learned to advocate for themselves and their peers through civic engagement.
LIP's Results
To date, more than 700 Latina teens have participated in LIP
not one of whom has completed suicide. LIP's accomplishments are measured by the positive results achieved by the girls.
An evaluation by the NYS Psychiatric Institute/Columbia University - NYS Center of Excellence for Cultural Competence shows that for every month a Latina teen participates in LIP her level of suicide ideation and depression decreases.
Community Education and Awareness
In February 2019, Comunilife launched ”Ni Una Más” a new
public awareness campaign designed to reduce
suicide among Latina adolescents. The campaign was launched
in Washington Heights, Manhattan through print and
social media and expanded to the boroughs of the Bronx,
Brooklyn and Queens. In January 2023, LIP expanded beyond the borders of New York City to Poughkeepsie and Yonkers.
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