December 15, 2014
It never ceases to amaze me how almost every effort is connected to one another in our big, small state. One example of the connectedness is The Alaska Community Foundation, The Alaska Children’s Trust, and the State of Alaska joining funding resources to promote community-based projects that incorporate goals from the Alaska State Suicide Prevention Plan, 2012-2017, to cultivate youth suicide prevention efforts.
There are lots of efforts in this area of prevention going on all around the state: youth are doing awareness presentations in high schools for other students, handing out thousands of wristbands to the growing number of ‘You Are Not Alone’ clubs at each of the schools they visit. These efforts are supported by many entities across the state, from private, public, state, and individual support to volunteer time and donated resources such as air miles, photocopying, and designing. Youth groups and nonprofits, for-profits and individuals, Rotary clubs, and individual volunteers are all part of the efforts. There are connections within connections, and there is a connectedness that speaks loud enough we can be hopeful that anyone who feels alone will feel the embrace of this growing movement.
CASTING THE NET UPSTREAM: PROMOTING WELLNESS TO PREVENT SUICIDE
Alaska State Suicide Prevention Plan, 2012-2017
- Goal 1: Alaskans accept responsibility for preventing suicide
- Goal 2: Alaskans effectively and appropriately respond to people at risk of suicide
- Goal 3: Alaskans communicate, cooperate, and coordinate suicide prevention efforts
- Goal 4: Alaskans have immediate access to the prevention, treatment, and recovery services they need
- Goal 5: Alaskans support survivors in healing
- Goal 6: Quality data and research is available and used for planning, implementation, and evaluation of suicide
Regional Suicide Prevention Teams
Source: Alaska State Suicide Prevention Council: Alaska State Suicide Prevention Plan, 2012-2017
The number of suicides committed by Alaska’s teens is staggering. Alaska’s suicide rate is among the highest in the nation — third per capita in 2012 — and more young people 15 to 24 died by suicide here than in any other state, according to the American Association of Suicidology.