On July 8, 2004, the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act passed the Senate and is now before the House of Representatives, where advocates are urging passage before the summer recess of Congress. This bill was introduced by Senator Gordon Smith of Oregon in memory of the son he lost to suicide last September. Joanne Kenen quotes Senator Smith’s thoughts about his son: "He saw only despair ahead and felt only pain in his present. Pain and despair so potent that he sought suicide as a release” (2004). Kenen further writes that the Senator shared that his son “had vast intellectual gifts but struggled with learning disabilities, dyslexia, and bipolar disorder” (2004).
The Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act will authorize $10 million for grants or cooperative agreements to:
- Agencies that are working to develop and implement early intervention and prevention strategies in schools, educational institutions, juvenile justice systems, substance abuse programs, mental health programs, foster care systems, and other child and youth support organizations.
- Public organizations and private nonprofit organizations that are actively involved in youth suicide early intervention and prevention strategies.
- Collect and analyze data for youth suicide early intervention and prevention services that can be used to monitor the effectiveness of such services and for research, technical assistance, and policy development.
- Assist in identifying those for whom services are needed.
- Increase access to, and enhance the range of, services for students with mental and behavioral health problems that can lead to school failure, such as depression, substance abuse, and suicide attempts, so as to ensure that college students have the support necessary to successfully complete their studies.
- More children and young adults die from suicide each year than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, and chronic lung disease combined.
- Over 4,000 children and young adults tragically take their lives every year, making suicide the third overall cause of death between the ages of 10 and 24. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is the third overall cause of death among college-age students.
- According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children and young adults accounted for 15 percent of all suicides completed in 2000.
- From 1980 to 1997, the rate of suicide among young adults ages 15 to 19 increased 11 percent.
- From 1980 to 1997, the rate of suicide among children ages 10 to 14 increased 109 percent.
- The American College Health Association found that 61 percent of college students reported feeling hopeless, 45 percent said they felt so depressed they could barely function, and 9 percent felt suicidal.
References & Further Reading
The Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act - to read this bill in its entirety enter S.2634 in the Bill Search by Number.
NAMI (July, 2004). Senate Passes Legislation to Expand Access to On-Campus Mental Illness Treatment Services and Address Youth Suicide.
