The Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) requests your participation in the Massachusetts Youth Suicide Prevention Initiatives survey. Through this short survey, we aim to understand statewide youth suicide prevention efforts and identify gaps, barriers, and opportunities for improvement.
Youth suicide is a highly preventable, but serious public health concern. According to DPH’s most recent available data, in 2017, a youth died by suicide every four days in Massachusetts. Suicide is currently the second and third leading cause of death for children and young adults in the Commonwealth. As part of the OCA’s mission to ensure all children receive appropriate, timely, and quality services, we released the report Youth Suicides in Massachusetts: A Cohort Perspective in National Context highlighting vulnerable groups of children and young adults who are at particularly high risk of dying by suicide.
We hope this survey will be the first of many steps towards resolving a largely preventable public health issue—one that has unfortunately been exacerbated by the current pandemic and its impact on children and families’ mental health, economic security, and sense of safety. Youth anxiety and depression are sharply on the rise and experts fear there will be an increase in suicide, especially among vulnerable populations of youth.
Access the Massachusetts Youth Suicide Prevention Initiatives survey here:
Thank you in advance for completing the survey before Friday, June 25, 2021. We kindly ask that you distribute the survey to others in your network who could also provide valuable information about their youth suicide prevention efforts.
If you have any questions or would like additional information about this project or the OCA, please contact Christine Palladino-Downs, Director of Quality Assurance at Christine.Palladino-Downs@mass.gov.
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