Bill Summary for Bill Number HJR12-1004

Date: 01/23/2012

Final
HJR12-1004

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION

Votes: View-->	Action Taken:
Move to refer HJR12-1004 to the full House. The mo	PASS

02:02 PM -- HJR 12-1004

Representative Massey welcomed the committee members and the audience to the meeting and announced changes to the committee's agenda for the day. He invited Representative A. Kerr to begin the meeting with a tribute. Representative A. Kerr read aloud a tribute to Amanda Paterino from the Colorado State House of Representatives for her hard work and volunteerism as a member of the Colorado Youth Advisory Council (COYAC).

02:05 PM

Representative Massey and Representative A. Kerr, co-sponsors, presented House Joint Resolution 12-1004, concerning teen suicide prevention in Colorado. They stated that the resolution was brought on the request of COYAC. Representative Massey provided background on the issue of teen suicide in Colorado, stating that teen suicide rates are higher in Colorado than in other parts of the country. He added that one in five Colorado teens have contemplated suicide in the last year. He added that it is paramount that the state pay attention to this issue and identify ways to intervene.

02:08 PM

Representative A. Kerr provided a brief background of COYAC, stating that the group is a formal mechanism used to notify the Colorado state legislature of matters that are important to youth in Colorado. Several handouts were provided to the members of the committee, including: an analysis of the resolution, the executive summary from the Annual Youth Survey administered by COYAC, an article from the Denver Post concerning COYAC and its role, and literature about the Second Wind Fund, Inc. (Attachments A through D).

02:13 PM -- Janet Chen, COYAC, provided background on what it is like to be a member of COYAC. She stated that she believes teens are more likely to become aware of and involved with policy issues when they know that they have peers who are representing them in front of state leaders. She discussed the results of the Annual Youth Survey which found that teen suicide is an issue of great concern among teens in Colorado. She gave an example of a personal experience she had with a friend who was having suicidal thoughts. She stated that health education courses taught in schools typically do not cover teen suicide in detail.

Representative Summers asked about the teacher's response to hearing about a student who was having suicidal thoughts. Ms. Chen responded that the teacher did not know how to respond. Representative Peniston asked what Ms. Chen says when people tell her that this issue should not be talked about. Ms. Chen responded that it is intervention that often keeps people from carrying out the act of suicide and that intervention is needed in order to mitigate the issue.

02:18 PM -- Sean Weller, Vice President, COYAC, gave background on his experience of having a brother who is depressed and struggles with suicidal thoughts. He stated that the resolution encourages teachers to learn what steps they can take to help prevent teen suicide. He stated that teachers are close to kids and can make a huge impact on those pupils who may be struggling from depression. He stated that the resolution also establishes a working group that will look at creating policy to solve the issue of teen suicide. He added that the group will work to identify what is really causing these kids to feel suicidal in the first place.

Representative Todd asked about mental health issues and if there is a venue other than school that a student today can go to in order to develop skills to help their peers who may be suffering. Mr. Weller responded that he hopes the working group can come up with something to help students help their peers. He added that part of that might be to look at the health education curriculum being taught in schools. Representative Todd followed up by saying that students often feel more comfortable sharing these thoughts with their friends. Mr. Weller responded that the goal is to give teachers the ability to identify the possible signs before the student even talks about it; to allow the teacher to work with a student in a discreet manner through curriculum planning, greater attention, and other methods. He added that part of the resolution is to accommodate the national suicide prevention week.

Representative Massey noted that training is available for faculty so that teachers do know how to deal with these situations.

Representative Ramirez gave background of his experience in his high school, which had a huge suicide problem. He talked about the Believe It Or Not I Care (BIONIC) program that was implemented by the student body at his school.

02:33 PM

Representative Schafer described her own experience with suicide in her family. She asked if the students had heard of the Safe2Tell hotline. Ms. Brenna Christensen, COYAC, responded that her high school has a Safe2Tell hotline, but that students seem to view the hotline as a joke and still do not feel comfortable sharing with the person at the hotline. She stated that the reason they are focusing on teachers is because teachers are in a position of authority and have a better opportunity to recognize warning signs and intervene. Mr. Weller added that when calling a hotline, it is not a person that you know, but with teachers, the student knows them and feels more comfortable confiding in them.

Representative Peniston commented about the national Yellow Ribbon Teen Suicide Prevention organization.

Representative Holbert asked what it is like to be a teenager today. Ms. Christensen responded that it is important to have personal interactions. She said that she knows of several of her friends who are suffering from depression. She discussed the depression screening program that is in place at her high school.

02:42 PM -- Ms. Christensen stated that a large part of the resolution's intent is to relieve teachers by helping them to understand the signs that are present before anything bad happens. She stated that a suicide can haunt teachers because they feel that they should have done more, but they are not being educated on how to respond correctly. She added that when kids are depressed, they don't really understand what is happening to them, they just feel sad and don't know how to solve the problem.

02:45 PM -- Thomas Tarler, former COYAC member, came to the table to discuss the resolution. Mr. Tarler provided background of his own experience with debilitating depression. He stated that depression paralyzes the person and causes them to withdraw. He stated that when someone is depressed, they don't want to interact with anyone and they don't even have the energy to interact with others. Mr. Tarler referenced the survey information provided in the handout. He described the data collection and analysis method used by the survey. He stated that nearly 100 percent of respondents had indicated in the survey that they are somewhat to very concerned about the issue of teen suicide.

Representative Summers commented that teen suicide really affects everyone. Mr. Tarler added that teen suicide affects nearly every aspect of what the education committees are concerned about.

02:55 PM -- Gage Clispe, student at the University of Denver, gave background of his experience in high school when a close friend of his took her own life. He added that this is an issue that needs to be talked about daily.

03:04 PM -- Mark Shively, parent, came to the table to share his experience with the loss of his daughter to suicide. He stated that death from teen suicide is preventable and we need to realize that we can do something for teens that may be headed down that path. He cited steps that need to be taken: raise awareness; eliminate the stigma surrounding the issue; make changes in schools; provide training in schools. He added that we need to focus on the ounce of prevention and that the resolution takes good steps in the right direction.

03:09 PM -- Jeff Lamontagne, co-founder, The Second Wind Fund, provided background on his nine years of experience in working with suicide prevention. He stated that 95 percent of the cases received by The Second Wind Fund were referred from schools. He stated that Colorado has consistently ranked higher in suicide rates than many other states. He stated that evidence shows that half of youth, by the age of 20, deal with thoughts of suicide and that this problem cuts across all demographics. He stated that this is an issue that parents need to speak with their children about and that everything must be done to ensure that parents are empowered and educated to deal with this issue. He added that this is not a parent-only issue, but that schools can add valuable resources to help prevent teen suicide, if they are trained to respond. Finally, he stated that preventing one suicide will help prevent multiple suicides from occurring. Mr. Lamontagne responded to questions from the committee. He noted that the common denominator between suicides is that the person feels isolated and cut off from something that they value greatly. He added that suicide prevention starts by creating bonds and making sure that every person feels loved.


BILL:	HJR 12-1004
TIME:	03:25:14 PM
MOVED:	Massey
MOTION:	Move to refer HJR12-1004 to the full House. The motion passed on a vote of 13-0.
SECONDED:	Kerr A.
		VOTE
	Hamner	Yes
	Holbert	Yes
	Joshi	Yes
	Kerr A.	Yes
	Murray	Yes
	Peniston	Yes
	Ramirez	Yes
	Schafer S.	Yes
	Solano	Yes
	Summers	Yes
	Todd	Yes
	Beezley	Yes
	Massey	Yes

Final YES: 13 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: PASS