“With the confluence of the pandemic, layoffs, racial inequity, and an election year, we’re facing tremendous uncertainty, which unfortunately also gives rise to serious behavioral issues and suicide,” Newport Mental Health president and CEO Jamie Lehane said in announcing the $800,000 grant from the Substance Abuse Mental Health Administration.

NEWPORT — A federal grant will allow Newport Mental Health to establish a COVID-19 Emergency Suicide Prevention program for residents of Aquidneck Island.

Although suicide statistics since the beginning of the pandemic are incomplete, most mental-health experts expect to see a rise in attempts and fatalities without aggressive intervention.

“With the confluence of the pandemic, layoffs, racial inequity, and an election year, we’re facing tremendous uncertainty, which unfortunately also gives rise to serious behavioral issues and suicide,” Newport Mental Health president and CEO Jamie Lehane said in announcing the $800,000 grant from the Substance Abuse Mental Health Administration.

The multi-year grant,