# E-CONNECT: A SERVICE SYSTEM INTERVENTION FOR JUSTICE YOUTH AT RISK FOR SUICIDE

> **NIH NIH R01** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2020 · $734,422

## Abstract

While youth at all juvenile justice (JJ) processing points are at increased risk for suicidal behavior (SB) and
associated behavioral health (BH) issues, those supervised in community settings (e.g., probation), may be at
greatest risk: (a) protocols for identification and service referral are far more common in secure settings, (b)
national policy increasingly favors community supervision/diversion over incarceration, (c) youth supervised in
the community have far more access to means and opportunity than do those in secure settings, and (d) the
multi- system coordination challenges to accessing BH care for community JJ youth are far greater than for
those secure care. We propose to adapt and test the utility of a multi-level service delivery model that
increases identification of SB and related BH problems, guides targeted referral, trains staff and structures
interagency collaboration to increase uptake of BH services by youth on probation; and document the
organizational elements required to widely-implement this model in juvenile probation and community
treatment settings. The model is based on our earlier, evidence-based linkage protocols from Project Connect,
and capitalizes on technological advances unavailable at Connect’s 2007 development, so as to address
earlier implementation issues. Working in 9 NYS counties, project specific aims are (1) to develop a
technologically advanced cross-system identification/linkage service model that trains staff, formalizes
interagency collaboration and referral decision-making and uses a mobile application to seamlessly combine
(a) screening for SB and related BH problems, (b) classification of clinical need and (c) county-specific
streamlined referral plans for BH services; (2) to examine the degree to which, compared to Baseline, e-
Connect improves (a) intermediary PO practice outcomes (service need identification, cross-system referral)
and increasing (b) youth BH service use (access, engagement); and (3) to elucidate multi-level factors (e.g.,
staff, organizational, youth/family, community,) that influence implementation (feasibility, acceptability,
sustainability) of e-Connect across various probation department processing categories (e.g. status offenders,
diversion cases) to inform comprehensive scale-up. The theoretically based mechanisms (e.g., changes in
staff knowledge and self-efficacy; agency structural characteristics) by which PO practice change affects BH
service use will also be examined. Guided by the GPM and CFIR framework, this 5-year study will comprise 4
project phases: (1) Development, (2) Baseline data collection, (3) Implementation, and (4) Sustainment. After
development, counties are randomized to one of 4 Waves to begin implementation of e-Connect at 4-month
intervals in a stepped-wedge design. Implementation activities continue for 18m and sites’ use of e-Connect
protocols after 18m will be an indication of sustainability. This initiative is one of the first to address SB ...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9988500
- **Project number:** 5R01MH113599-04
- **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES
- **Principal Investigator:** KATHERINE S ELKINGTON
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $734,422
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-01 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9988500

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9988500, E-CONNECT: A SERVICE SYSTEM INTERVENTION FOR JUSTICE YOUTH AT RISK FOR SUICIDE (5R01MH113599-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9988500. Licensed CC0.

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