BILL NUMBER: ACR 77INTRODUCED BILL TEXT INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Torres AUGUST 15, 2011 Relative to Suicide Prevention Week. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST ACR 77, as introduced, Torres. Suicide Prevention Week. This measure would proclaim September 4 through September 10, 2011, as Suicide Prevention Week. Fiscal committee: no. WHEREAS, In the United States, one person completes suicide every 15.2 minutes; and WHEREAS, Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the United States; and WHEREAS, Suicide is the third leading cause of death among individuals who are 15 to 24, inclusive, years of age in the United States; and WHEREAS, It is estimated that 4.5 million people in the United States, known as survivors of suicide, have lost a loved one to suicide; and WHEREAS, Fifty and two-tenths percent of people who die by suicide use a firearm; and WHEREAS, 2010 was the second year in a row that the United States military lost more troops to suicide than combat in Iraq and Afghanistan; and WHEREAS, Rates of completed suicide are highest among those 80 years of age and over; and WHEREAS, In 2007, 18 percent of Hispanic adolescents reported seriously considering attempting suicide in the last 12 months, which is a proportion higher than reported by their non-Hispanic classmates; and WHEREAS, The stigma associated with mental illness and suicidality works against suicide prevention by discouraging persons at risk for suicide from seeking life-saving help and further traumatizes survivors of suicide; and WHEREAS, Organizations such as the American Association of Suicidology, that are dedicated to reducing the frequency of suicide attempts and death and the pain of survivors of suicide through educational programs, research programs, intervention services, and bereavement services, urge the following: (a) Recognition of suicide as a national and state public health problem and the declaration of suicide prevention as a statewide priority. (b) Acknowledgment that no single suicide prevention program or effort will be appropriate for all populations or communities. (c) Encouragement of initiatives based on the goals contained in the National Strategy Prevention, which include all of the following: (1) Promotion of awareness of suicide as a public health problem that is preventable. (2) Development of broad-based support for suicide prevention. (3) Development and implementation of strategies to reduce the stigma associated with being a consumer of mental health, substance abuse, and suicide prevention services. (4) Development and implementation of community-based suicide prevention programs. (5) Promotion of efforts to reduce access to lethal means and methods of self-harm. (6) Implementation of training for the recognition of at-risk behavior and for the delivery of effective treatment. (7) Development and promotion of effective clinical and professional practices. (8) Increase in access to, and community linkages with, mental health and substance abuse services. (9) Improvement in reporting and portrayals of suicidal behavior, mental illness, and substance abuse in the entertainment and news media. (10) Promotion and support of research on suicide and suicide prevention. (11) Improvement and expansion of surveillance systems for suicidal behavior; and WHEREAS, A great many suicides are preventable; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, the Senate thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby proclaims September 4 through September 10, 2011, as Suicide Prevention Week; and be it further Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly shall transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.