Post by blackcrowheart on Sept 27, 2006 17:27:38 GMT -5
Suicide's solution
Wyoming gets a $1.2M grant to help teens and young adults
By Jennifer Frazer
rep8@wyomingnews.com
CHEYENNE - Efforts to combat youth suicide in Wyoming appear to be gathering steam.
That's particularly true after last week's announcement that the federal government had awarded the state Department of Health a $1.2 million grant for that purpose.
The news comes none too soon.
Wyoming's youth suicide rate was the second-highest in the nation after Alaska in 2003, the last year for which data are available.
Suicide was the second-leading cause of death for those ages 15-24 in Wyoming after accidents and accounted for more lost lives than homicide, cancer and all other diseases combined.
The grant will allow the Department of Health and community suicide prevention coalitions to experiment. It also means an increase in funding available for pilot programs outside the coalitions, said Keith Hotle, suicide prevention specialist with the agency.
Eventually, that may include an extended public awareness campaign to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness in Wyoming, Hotle said.
"Until we can change people's beliefs that help-seeking behavior is a bad thing, we're never going to be able to get our arms around the larger issue of how we can sustain suicide prevention in the long term," he added.
It was just last May that the state held its first Suicide Prevention Conference in Casper. There, people from across the state gathered to discuss the problem and its potential solutions.
In the months since, the number of community suicide coalitions increased to 16 from seven, Hotle said. He added that he hopes the number eventually will increase to the point where every county has such a group.
There has been an effort in the community coalitions to improve reporting of suicides, which are often undercounted, Hotle said.
They also are collecting information from those who knew a suicide victim - a technique sometimes referred to as a "psychological autopsy" - so officials can better understand the dynamics of suicide in Wyoming.
"People ask, 'Why is the suicide rate so high in Wyoming?' and I don't know that we have a clear-cut answer to that yet," Hotle said. "This will help us get there."
The state also is assembling a Wyoming Youth Suicide Prevention Advisory Council to provide oversight and assistance to the Department of Health in carrying out the federal grant's objectives and deciding which programs get funding.
"After three years we'll have a group highly knowledgeable about youth suicide prevention," Hotle said. "We certainly wouldn't want to lose that resource."
He said he also may hold a series of town meetings in coming months to serve as a sounding board for how the money should be spent in local communities.
There also been a growing interest in American Indian suicide prevention, particularly since young Indian males are 1.5 to 3 times more likely to die by suicide than their same-age male counterparts in other ethnic groups, Hotle said.
Next week there will be a meeting in Riverton to address that very subject, he said.
Attendees will include schools, local coalitions, child protection and youth services. They will gather at the Wind River Indian Reservation to discuss how they can best use grant money and avoid duplicating efforts.
A program already in place that is likely to benefit from the federal grant is the Youth Empowerment Council in Casper. That is a group of teens trained to teach their peers about the warning signs of suicide and what to do if they see them.
Hotle said he would like to see that program expanded throughout the state.
Jean Davies is a member of the Wyoming Suicide Prevention Task Force and an employee of the Wyoming Behavioral Institute in Casper. She originally trained the youth in the Casper program.
"Kids listen to kids," she said. "So it really has brought more of a response from the kids they're presenting to."
Davies said that after the program began, counseling appointments increased four-fold.
At first they were troubled by that increase, but then they began to realize that was actually the desired result because it showed students were reaching out for help, she added.
She too said she hopes the program can be expanded in the state. But she added some school districts are reluctant to take it on because they feel their plates are already so full.
www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2006/09/25/news/local_news/02local_09-25-06.txt
Wyoming gets a $1.2M grant to help teens and young adults
By Jennifer Frazer
rep8@wyomingnews.com
CHEYENNE - Efforts to combat youth suicide in Wyoming appear to be gathering steam.
That's particularly true after last week's announcement that the federal government had awarded the state Department of Health a $1.2 million grant for that purpose.
The news comes none too soon.
Wyoming's youth suicide rate was the second-highest in the nation after Alaska in 2003, the last year for which data are available.
Suicide was the second-leading cause of death for those ages 15-24 in Wyoming after accidents and accounted for more lost lives than homicide, cancer and all other diseases combined.
The grant will allow the Department of Health and community suicide prevention coalitions to experiment. It also means an increase in funding available for pilot programs outside the coalitions, said Keith Hotle, suicide prevention specialist with the agency.
Eventually, that may include an extended public awareness campaign to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness in Wyoming, Hotle said.
"Until we can change people's beliefs that help-seeking behavior is a bad thing, we're never going to be able to get our arms around the larger issue of how we can sustain suicide prevention in the long term," he added.
It was just last May that the state held its first Suicide Prevention Conference in Casper. There, people from across the state gathered to discuss the problem and its potential solutions.
In the months since, the number of community suicide coalitions increased to 16 from seven, Hotle said. He added that he hopes the number eventually will increase to the point where every county has such a group.
There has been an effort in the community coalitions to improve reporting of suicides, which are often undercounted, Hotle said.
They also are collecting information from those who knew a suicide victim - a technique sometimes referred to as a "psychological autopsy" - so officials can better understand the dynamics of suicide in Wyoming.
"People ask, 'Why is the suicide rate so high in Wyoming?' and I don't know that we have a clear-cut answer to that yet," Hotle said. "This will help us get there."
The state also is assembling a Wyoming Youth Suicide Prevention Advisory Council to provide oversight and assistance to the Department of Health in carrying out the federal grant's objectives and deciding which programs get funding.
"After three years we'll have a group highly knowledgeable about youth suicide prevention," Hotle said. "We certainly wouldn't want to lose that resource."
He said he also may hold a series of town meetings in coming months to serve as a sounding board for how the money should be spent in local communities.
There also been a growing interest in American Indian suicide prevention, particularly since young Indian males are 1.5 to 3 times more likely to die by suicide than their same-age male counterparts in other ethnic groups, Hotle said.
Next week there will be a meeting in Riverton to address that very subject, he said.
Attendees will include schools, local coalitions, child protection and youth services. They will gather at the Wind River Indian Reservation to discuss how they can best use grant money and avoid duplicating efforts.
A program already in place that is likely to benefit from the federal grant is the Youth Empowerment Council in Casper. That is a group of teens trained to teach their peers about the warning signs of suicide and what to do if they see them.
Hotle said he would like to see that program expanded throughout the state.
Jean Davies is a member of the Wyoming Suicide Prevention Task Force and an employee of the Wyoming Behavioral Institute in Casper. She originally trained the youth in the Casper program.
"Kids listen to kids," she said. "So it really has brought more of a response from the kids they're presenting to."
Davies said that after the program began, counseling appointments increased four-fold.
At first they were troubled by that increase, but then they began to realize that was actually the desired result because it showed students were reaching out for help, she added.
She too said she hopes the program can be expanded in the state. But she added some school districts are reluctant to take it on because they feel their plates are already so full.
www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2006/09/25/news/local_news/02local_09-25-06.txt