Individuals experiencing homelessness are often exposed to various risk factors that increase their vulnerability towards suicide. With high rates of documented suicidal attempts, ideation and behaviours among this population, and recent initiatives pushed by our own national strategies, there is an ever-growing need for evidence-based assessment and management of suicide among individuals experiencing homelessness. However, there is a substantially limited evidence-base of such practices in an Irish context. It was for these reasons that Dublin Simon Community’s Sure Steps Counselling Service established a pilot project from November 2016 to February 2018 with clients and staff to evaluate one such evidence-based approach, the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS).

This report assesses the CAMS Approach in terms of ease of training, implementation into practice and its effectiveness for reducing suicidal thoughts and behaviour among the homeless population. It is the hope that such a report will inform practices and guidelines both within Dublin Simon Community as well as among homeless services nationally and internationally.