Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 31–
Assemblywoman Ohrenschall

 

May 27, 2003

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Read and Adopted

 

SUMMARY—Encourages recognition of mental illness and suicide in young people of Nevada as public health crises and recommends implementation of evidence-based initiatives to screen children and adolescents for mental disorders. (BDR R‑978)

 

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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.

 

Assembly Concurrent RESOLUTION—Encouraging the recognition of mental illness and suicide in the young people of Nevada as public health crises and recommending the implementation of evidence-based initiatives to screen children and adolescents for mental disorders.

 

1-1  Whereas, Over the past 20 years, advances in scientific

1-2  research have changed perceptions concerning the mental health of

1-3  children and adolescents and demonstrated that the same mental

1-4  disorders that afflict adults can also occur in young people; and

1-5  Whereas, Scientific research has also demonstrated that early

1-6  identification and treatment of mental disorders in children and

1-7  adolescents greatly increase the chance of a favorable prognosis;

1-8  and

1-9  Whereas, In January 2001, the Surgeon General of the United

1-10  States noted that while 1 out of every 10 young people in this nation

1-11  suffers from mental illness that is severe enough to cause some level

1-12  of impairment, only 1 out of 5 receives the mental health treatment

1-13  that is needed; and

1-14      Whereas, The World Health Organization has reported that

1-15  neuropsychiatric disorders in young people will rise by more than

1-16  50 percent by 2020, making such disorders one of the top five

1-17  causes of disability, morbidity and mortality among children and

1-18  adolescents; and

2-1  Whereas, Studies concerning psychological autopsy have

2-2  found that 90 percent of young people who end their own lives have

2-3  depression or another diagnosable mental or substance abuse

2-4  disorder at the time of their deaths, verifying a link between mental

2-5  illness and suicide; and

2-6  Whereas, In 1999, the Surgeon General first recognized that

2-7  mental illness and substance abuse disorders are, in fact, the greatest

2-8  risk factors for suicidal behavior and that properly identifying and

2-9  treating mental illness and substance abuse disorders are important

2-10  parts of suicide prevention activities; and

2-11      Whereas, The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services

2-12  Administration of the Department of Health and Human Services

2-13  recently reported that in 1999 almost 3 million young people were at

2-14  risk for suicide, but only 36 percent received mental health

2-15  treatment; and

2-16      Whereas, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of

2-17  the Department of Health and Human Services recently reported that

2-18  in 2000 suicide was the third leading cause of death among persons

2-19  15 to 24 years of age; and

2-20      Whereas, Studies completed by the Centers for Disease

2-21  Control and Prevention reveal that each year in the United States,

2-22  almost as many adolescents and young adults commit suicide as die

2-23  from leukemia, birth defects, pneumonia and influenza, and AIDS

2-24  combined; and

2-25      Whereas, In January 2001, the Surgeon General issued a goal

2-26  to “improve the assessment and recognition of mental health needs

2-27  in children” in part by encouraging “early identification of mental

2-28  health needs in existing preschool, childcare, education, health,

2-29  welfare, juvenile justice, and substance abuse treatment systems”;

2-30  and

2-31      Whereas, Several states have recognized mental illness and

2-32  suicide in young people as public health crises, some even before

2-33  the initiative of the Department of Health and Human Services, and,

2-34  as of today, the majority of states have either developed or are in the

2-35  process of developing plans to identify mental illness and prevent

2-36  suicide among this segment of the population; and

2-37      Whereas, The efforts, initiatives and activities of the Federal

2-38  and State Governments should be used to support evidence-based

2-39  practices for identifying mental illness in children and adolescents

2-40  and preventing suicide among our young people; and

2-41      Whereas, A program known as the “Columbia TeenScreen

2-42  Program,” developed at the Division of Child and Adolescent

2-43  Psychiatry of Columbia University, has been proven successful,

2-44  offers technical assistance for implementation of a screening

3-1  program and provides all the components for such a program at no

3-2  charge at this time; now, therefore, be it

3-3  Resolved by the Assembly of the State of Nevada, the

3-4  Senate Concurring, That the members of the 72nd Session of

3-5  the Nevada Legislature recognize that mental illness and suicide

3-6  among young people are public health crises in this state and in this

3-7  nation and that all residents of Nevada should make the

3-8  identification of mental disorders and the prevention of suicide

3-9  among the young people of this state a public health priority; and be

3-10  it further

3-11      Resolved, That the Nevada Legislature recommends that every

3-12  young person should be screened once during childhood or

3-13  adolescence to identify mental illness and prevent suicide; and be it

3-14  further

3-15      Resolved, That such a screening and identification process

3-16  should employ sound, evidence-based tools; and be it further

3-17      Resolved, That all adolescents in middle school and high

3-18  school should have equal access to such a screening process; and be

3-19  it further

3-20      Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly prepare and

3-21  transmit a copy of this resolution to Governor Kenny C. Guinn, the

3-22  Superintendent of Public Instruction, the State Board of Education,

3-23  the Director of the Department of Human Resources, the Court

3-24  Administrator of the Supreme Court for distribution to the juvenile

3-25  courts, and the Nevada Parent Teacher Association.

 

3-26  H