Suicides by L.A. County Minors Drop; Prevention Efforts Hailed

Suicides among Los Angeles County youth have decreased significantly in recent years as schools and communities have intensified prevention programs, according to an annual report on child abuse and neglect being released today.

Thirteen children and teenagers committed suicide in 2004, a 31.6% decrease from the 19 suicides recorded in 2003 and considerably lower than the 15-year average of nearly 25 suicides annually.

The report, “The State of Child Abuse in Los Angeles County,” was released by the county’s Inter-Agency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect, which provides a detailed annual analysis of deaths, suicides and abuse cases.

The decrease in suicides follows a trend of fewer child homicides, accidental deaths and abuse reports. Thirty children in the county died at the hand of a family member or caregiver in 2004, compared with 35 the previous year. Accidental deaths numbered 110 in 2004, compared with 147 the previous year. And the county Department of Children and Family Services received 155,000 abuse referrals in 2004, compared with 162,000 in 2003.

One category of concern was deaths of undetermined cause, which grew to 84 in 2004 from 71 the previous year, an 18% increase and significantly higher than the 15-year average of 37. Many of these deaths occurred among children sleeping with one or both parents.

But officials said the overall findings were heartening.

“I believe there is a downward trend [in deaths], and I believe it has profoundly been affected by public information,” said the council’s executive director, Deanne Tilton-Durfee.

She pointed to the decline in abandoned babies, which fell from 14 in 2001 to four in 2005, a drop she largely attributed to vigorous public information campaigns promoting the state’s Safe Haven Law. The number of babies safely surrendered to hospitals and other designated sites increased from 0 in 2001 to eight in 2005.

“It’s a good example of a very clear difference in a policy or law and its implementation,” Tilton-Durfee said.

“No policy is going to be realized without awareness and accountability,” she said. “It’s why I believe there are fewer shaken babies, which used to be the leading cause of death of young children, and it’s now minimal.

“Sudden infant death syndrome has decreased,” she added. “And the reduction in suicide has a lot to do with people taking seriously young people who say they want to kill themselves or say they’re depressed.”

Over the last 40 years, the national rate of youth suicides increased 300% before leveling off and showing a slight decrease in the last three or four years, said Clark Flatt, president of the Jason Foundation, which provides training and prevention services in middle and high schools across the nation, including in Los Angeles.

“We’re going in the right direction,” said Flatt, who lost his 16-year-old son, Jason, to suicide in 1997.

“But it is still the third leading cause of death for young people in the U.S. today, and there should be a mandate on the government to address this with more moneys and resources,” he said.

“We still lose 100 young people a week nationally.”