Idaho moves from 9th highest for suicides to 5th highest; new state prevention program comes ‘in nick of time’

BOISE - Idaho’s investment of nearly $1 million last year to launch a new state Office of Suicide Prevention came “in the nick of time,” state public health Administrator Elke Shaw-Tulloch told lawmakers Monday, as she shared new data on suicide in Idaho: In 2015, 362 people in Idaho took their lives, an increase of 13 percent from 2014; and Idaho moved from 9th in the nation to 5th for the highest rates of suicide deaths.

“So we are feeling extremely grateful that we have this program,” Shaw-Tulloch told the budget-writing Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee.

All four positions in the new office have been filled, she reported, and the program is established, working with the Idaho Suicide Prevention Hotline, the state Department of Education and the Suicide Prevention Action Network. “We’re also working on developing a public awareness campaign,” she said.

“The program has been in high demand. We are giving lots of presentations and training,” Shaw-Tulloch said. “We’re very, very grateful to have that program.”

The news came as Idaho kicked off a week of budget hearings on health and human services programs. State Department of Health and Welfare Director Dick Armstrong told lawmakers his top priority for next year is a redesign of children’s mental health services in Idaho, a move he said has been in the works since the filing of the “Jeff D” lawsuit 35 years ago.