BP BHEAD INT H

AN ACT Relating to suicide prevention; adding new sections to chapter 28A.300 RCW; and making an appropriation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that suicide is one of the most serious and tragic phenomena affecting children and youth, the third leading cause of death of young persons from fifteen to twenty-four years of age, and the second leading cause of death for youth from fifteen to nineteen years of age, following unintentional injuries and homicide. The suicide rate among teenagers, in today's age of rage where anger is turned inwards in the form of depression, has increased forty percent from 1980 to 1990. Over forty percent of teenage girls and twenty-five percent of teenage boys have seriously considered suicide; and one out of every seven teenagers has attempted suicide at least once. Between 1979 and 1988, according to national figures, the suicide rate for the ten to fourteen year old age group alone increased seventy-five percent, while the murder rate increased forty-two percent.

Suicide is a dimension of violence that is directed towards self instead of others, an implosion rather than an explosion, in response to a sense of hopelessness from troubling problems associated with drug and alcohol abuse, loneliness, depression, and relationship difficulties in a society increasingly characterized by dysfunctional families, new economic realities, and the widening gap between rising youthful aspirations and fewer opportunities.

Suicide can be preventable through intervention strategies that involve crisis intervention through trained professionals; attention towards the amelioration of those personal conditions that engender anger and related depression; and education programs for managing personal problems that augment self-esteem. It is imperative to address this tragic phenomenon not only as a serious public health and safety problem, but in the interests of assuring the future of American society with healthy role models fully capable of participating and contributing to the welfare of their own families and the community.

The purpose of this act is to establish a state-wide suicide prevention program that develops and implements strategies for addressing youth suicide through the schools and throughout the communities.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the following definitions apply throughout sections 2 through 8 of this act:

(1) "Department" means the department of health.

(2) "Program" means a youth suicide prevention program established under section 3 of this act.

(3) "Secretary" means the secretary of the department of health.

(4) "Youth services bureau" means a program established under sections 2 through 8 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) A state-wide youth suicide prevention program is established to be administered by the secretary in consultation with:

(a) The superintendent of public instruction;

(b) The department of community, trade, and economic development;

(d) Local community agencies involved in suicide prevention;

(e) Local community mental health programs; and

(f) Such other entities as the secretary deems appropriate.

(2) The secretary may develop the suicide prevention program, including:

(a) An assessment of data and identification of the populations at risk, including effective programs currently available, and review of literature for models that have proven effective;

(b) Policy development for strategies in addressing youth suicide, including demonstration programs;

(c) An assurance function providing ongoing evaluation of the overall effectiveness of the youth suicide prevention program; and

(d) The establishment of an interagency cooperative work group, appointing such participants as the secretary deems appropriate to facilitate the implementation of sections 2 through 8 of this act.

(3) The secretary may establish demonstration youth suicide prevention programs in cooperation with local school districts.

(4) Any local political subdivision of the state may apply to the secretary for assistance or grant funds to establish a local youth suicide prevention program.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) The department shall adopt rules setting eligibility guidelines for state funding of youth suicide prevention programs under sections 2 through 8 of this act.

(2) The rules shall:

(a) Establish procedures for developing local programs, in cooperation with local education agencies, youth services bureaus, and community mental health centers; and

(b) Establish standards and policies for programs to offer:

(i) Individual, family, and group counseling related to youth suicide prevention;

(ii) Referral, crisis intervention, and information for students, parents, and school personnel; and

(iii) Training for school personnel, and others responsible for counseling or supervising student activities.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. (1) A youth suicide prevention program established under sections 2 through 8 of this act shall plan, fund, and implement educational programs, which may include any of the following:

(a) Classroom instruction designed to achieve any of the following objectives:

(i) Encourage sound decision making and promote ethical development;

(ii) Increase pupils' awareness of the relationship between drug and alcohol use and youth suicide;

(iii) Teach pupils to recognize signs of suicidal tendencies, and other facts about youth suicide;

(iv) Inform pupils of available community youth suicide prevention services;

(v) Enhance school climate and relationships between teachers, counselors, and pupils; and

(vi) Further cooperative efforts of school personnel and community youth suicide prevention program personnel;

(b) School-based or community-based alternative programs outside of the classroom, including:

(i) Positive peer group programs;

(ii) A twenty-four-hour hotline telephone service, staffed by trained professional counselors;

(iii) Programs to collect data on youth suicide attempts;

(iv) Intervention and follow-up; and

(v) Parent education and training programs; and

(2) A program established under sections 2 through 8 of this act shall:

(a) Assist in increasing the awareness, among school personnel and community leaders, of the incidence of teenage suicide;

(b) Train school personnel in individual and school-wide strategies for teenage suicide prevention;

(d) Through cooperative efforts, use community resources in the development and implementation of teenage suicide prevention programs under sections 2 through 8 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. The department shall:

(1) As to each program receiving state funding:

(a) Monitor its operations; and

(b) Evaluate annually its effectiveness; and

(2) Review and either approve or disapprove the application for state funding of a proposed program.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The department shall submit a report to the legislature regarding the current status and effectiveness of the programs established under sections 2 through 8 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. (1) A youth services bureau is a community-based entity that operates to provide community-oriented youth suicide prevention, ameliorate conditions that breed youth suicide, and function as an advocate of youth needs.

(2)(a) The department shall adopt rules establishing eligibility guidelines for state funding of youth services bureaus.

(b) The rules shall require that each state-aided youth services bureau provide, at no cost, at convenient hours:

(i) Individual, family, and group counseling;

(ii) Referral and information services;

(iii) Crisis intervention, including intervention relating to youth suicide prevention;

(iv) Informal counseling; and

(v) Community education, including training and information relating to youth suicide prevention.

(3) The department shall:

(a) As to each youth services bureau receiving state funding:

(i) Monitor its operations;

(ii) Evaluate annually its effectiveness; and

(iii) Stop funding a youth services bureau that is ineffective or that, for two years, fails to meet the eligibility guidelines for state funding; and

(b) Review and either approve or disapprove the application for state funding of a youth services bureau or proposed youth services bureau.

(4)(a) The funding of an eligible youth services bureau shall be a shared responsibility of the state and of local governments. The state share shall be seventy-five percent of the funding of an eligible youth services bureau, as provided in the omnibus appropriations act.

(b) Each eligible youth services bureau shall submit to the department a proposed annual budget for review and approval, at the times the secretary specifies.

(c) The proposed budget of the department shall list the eligible youth services bureaus and estimate the amount of state funds to be allocated to each.

(d) At the option of the local governmental authority that provides the matching funds for an eligible youth services bureau, the state funds for the support of the eligible youth services bureau shall be paid directly to its private sponsor or to the local governing body. Before the state funds are paid, the fiscal officer of the local governmental authority shall certify, in writing, the source of the twenty-five percent local funds.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. Sections 1 through 8 of this act are each added to chapter 28A.300 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. The sum of . . . . . . . . dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1995, from the general fund to the department of health for the purposes of this act.