 How Does TeenScreen Get Funded?
How did TeenScreen get its "evidence-based" label?
We have discovered that TeenScreen sites across the U.S. are able to procure federal funding through grants due to TeenScreen’s label of being “evidence-based” and being on the “promising programs” list. It is only through this debatable labeling that enables federal funds to be available for the program.
How did TeenScreen make this “evidence-based” list? Who was behind this label of “promising program”?
The Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) originally started the Evidence-Based Program Registry in partnership with the American Foundation of Suicide Prevention (AFSP), which is heavily funded by the pharmaceutical companies. David Shaffer, TeenScreen’s developer, was the recent past president of the AFSP and in collusion with the SPRC, TeenScreen made the list as an "Evidence-Based Program".
This tricky maneuver let Shaffer’s TeenScreen have an official label of being “evidence-based”, federal funding through grants could now be applied for. We feel this "good-old-boy" approach is highly suspect and welcome any inquiries, governmental or private, into the details of TeenScreen's approval.
Last year the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) awarded a total of $9.7 Million for suicide prevention through 37 grants—approximately $400,000 for each grant awarded. SPRC itself was also funded for $2.6 million per year for the next five years.
Recipients of the above grants were expected to use programs that were “evidence-based” to fulfill the expectations of their grants.
Who had the list of “evidence-based” programs? The SPRC. Who helped to develop that list? Shaffer’s own AFSP. This is very convenient and stains the objectivity on the approval process alarmingly.
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The SPRC website states:
“After January 2005, SPRC and AFSP will no longer conduct reviews of suicide prevention programs for listing in this registry. All future reviews of suicide prevention programs will be conducted as part of the National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP), under the direction of the Science to Service Office, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration [SAMHSA].”
Now that SAMHSA has taken over this list, it’s interesting to note that according to their new National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs, TeenScreen did not make the cut.
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Additional Note to Researchers: If you have any knowledge of covert or hidden funding or support of the TeenScreen project that is not common knowledge, please let us know by filling in the form on our Contact page.
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