Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 3–Committee on
Human Resources and Facilities

 

FILE NUMBER..........

 

Senate Concurrent RESOLUTION—Urging each community in Nevada to form a coalition of agencies and service providers to reduce the number of suicides and provide support for survivors.

 

    Whereas, For at least 2 decades, Nevada has ranked at the top

 of the listing of states with high rates of suicide and has maintained

 a rate that is twice the national average; and

    Whereas, National and state research indicates that Nevada’s

 high rate of suicide is evident for all age groups and all

 socioeconomic populations in the State, particularly for youth,

 elderly men, Native Americans and residents of rural communities;

 and

    Whereas, The same research has found that the vast majority

 of Nevada’s suicide victims are actually residents of Nevada, and

 not tourists as is the typical assumption; and

    Whereas, In 2001, the Surgeon General of the United States

 issued a plan to reduce the nation’s high rate of suicide in his report

 National Strategy for Suicide Prevention: Goals and Objectives for

 Action, which recognizes the importance of gaining strong and

 broad support for suicide prevention through public awareness that

 suicide is a serious public health problem which is preventable; and

    Whereas, According to the Surgeon General, it is important

 that suicide prevention be integrated into existing programs and

 activities at the community level, and one of the goals of the

 National Strategy is to develop and implement community-based

 programs for suicide prevention; and

    Whereas, One of the objectives under this goal is to increase

 the number of states that have comprehensive plans for suicide

 prevention which coordinate across governmental agencies, involve

 the private sector and support the development, implementation and

 evaluation of such plans in each community; and

    Whereas, Plans created by states may help communities

 address the local issues important in suicide prevention, for

 example, such issues as the rate of suicide being affected by the

 norms and cultural values of a community and the rate of suicide

 varying with factors such as the percentage of the population that

 resides in rural areas and the ethnic composition of the population;

 and

    Whereas, Another goal of the National Strategy is to improve

 access to and community linkages with mental health and substance

 abuse services, and a related objective is to increase the number of

 cities and counties with outreach programs for health and social

services that incorporate mental health services and suicide

prevention for populations at risk of suicide; and

    Whereas, Research conducted by public health and mental

 health agencies in Nevada indicates that there is a lack of public

 awareness of the seriousness of the suicide problem and a lack of

 coordination and communication between existing private and

 public agencies, particularly in communities in Clark County and

 many of the rural counties; now, therefore, be it

    Resolved by the Senate of the State of Nevada, the

 Assembly Concurring, That in response to the Surgeon

 General’s goals relating to community-based programs for suicide

 prevention and linkages with mental health and substance abuse

 services, each city and county in Nevada is hereby urged to form a

 coalition of agencies and service providers to address suicide

 prevention through education, response and treatment, with the

 goals of reducing suicides in each community and providing

 support for the surviving family and friends of suicide victims; and

 be it further

    Resolved, That the local programs for suicide prevention

 should be developed based on each community’s resources and

 needs; and be it further

    Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate prepare and

 transmit a copy of this resolution to the Nevada Association of

 Counties, Nevada League of Cities and Municipalities, Director of

 the Department of Human Resources, Nevada Public Health

 Foundation, Nevada Chapter of the American Foundation for

 Suicide Prevention, Suicide Prevention Action Network USA, Inc.,

 Dean of the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension at the

 University of Nevada, Reno, Executive Director of the Nevada

 Indian Commission, Nevada Chapters of the American Association

 of Retired Persons, Nevada Parent-Teacher Association, Nevada

 Hispanic Services, Inc., Nevada Association of Latin Americans,

 and Nevada Chapters of the National Association for the

 Advancement of Colored People.

 

²⁰~~~~~⁰³