HB 4124
Establishes the Youth Suicide Intervention and Prevention Coordinator in the Oregon Health Authority
This bill establishes a Youth Suicide Intervention and Prevention Coordinator at the Oregon Health Authority (OHA). This Coordinator will:
• Facilitate the development of a Youth Suicide Intervention and Prevention Plan (YSIPP). The YSIPP is a statewide plan to address both youth and young adult suicide and self-inflicted injury as well as develop strategies for intervention with youth who are suicidal, depressed, and at a higher risk of attempting suicide and self-injury
• Improve outreach to communities that are at risk for suicide and self-inflicted injury
• Identify barriers to accessing intervention services for youth and young adults who are suicidal, depressed, and at-risk
• Provide technical assistance to state and local partners and coordinate interagency efforts to establish youth and young adult suicide and self-inflicted injury prevention and intervention strategies
• The coordinator will review data and prepare an annual report for the Legislative Assembly on specific data points indicated by this legislation
The YSIPP will be updated at least every five years and these updates should at a minimum include the following:
• An assessment of current access to mental health intervention, treatment, and support for depressed or suicidal youth
• Recommendations to improve access to mental health intervention, treatment, and support for depressed or suicidal youth
• Recommendations for best practices to identify and intervene with youth who are depressed, suicidal, or at -risk for self-injury
• Recommendations for collaboration among schools, school-based health clinics and coordinated care organizations (CCOs) for school-based screening for depression and risk of suicide or self-injury among middle and high school students
• Recommendations related to the use of social media and the internet to provide opportunities for intervention and prevention of youth suicide and self-injury
• Recommendations regarding services and strategies to respond to schools and communities following a completed youth suicide
• Identification of intervention and prevention strategies used by other states with the five lowest rates of youth suicide and self-injury
• A comparison of Oregon’s youth suicide and self-injury rates with other states