Nevada gets grant to develop suicide prevention programs

Thursday, Sept. 22, 2005 | 9:30 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Suicide is the second leading cause of death among those 15 to 24 years old in Nevada, with the suicide rate in the age category outstripping the national average.

To help curb the problem, the federal government Tuesday announced an annual $400,000 grant for three years to Nevada and 12 other states to develop suicide prevention plans.

Theresa Anderson, deputy administrator of the state Division of Child and Family Services, said Wednesday that part of the grant will be used to start a pilot program to screen ninth graders in 20 high schools in Clark County.

She said the screening is identifying those who have health and substance abuse problems and connect them to these programs. Seventy-eight percent of the youth suicides occur in Clark County.

"We hope this pilot will expand statewide," she said.

A 2003 legislative study committee on suicide received testimony that 20 percent of students have seriously considered taking their own lives; 16.4 percent made a suicide plan and nearly 11 percent attempted suicide at least one or more times.

The state applied to the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration for the money. Anderson said she has not received official word of the grant, but the federal agency announced $9.7 million in grants to support 37 suicide prevention programs nationwide.

The national suicide rate in the 15 to 24 age category is 12.3 percent per 100,000 population. In Nevada it is 19.1 percent per 100,000.

The grant money will be coordinated with a newly approved state suicide program. The Legislature approved a suicide prevention program in the state Department of Health and Human Services in 2003, but the recommended money never materialized for financing the project.

The 2005 Legislature approved Gov. Kenny Guinn's suggestion to create two positions, including a statewide suicide prevention coordinator and a suicide prevention trainer. Neither has been hired yet. There is $152,004 allocated this fiscal year and $192,815 next fiscal year for the effort to reduce suicides.

Former Sen. Ann O'Connell of Las Vegas, said "It's amazing to me it's taken so long to do something about this problem. ... We know it's a critical problem, but it's in all age groups."