IL Mental Health 1st Aid Law Will Help with Youth Suicide Fight

(Springfield, IL) – A new mental health first aid training law for Illinois teachers targeting the warning signs of mental illness in youth, approved by Governor JB Pritzker last week, will help blunt the risk of youth suicide plaguing the state, according to the law’s chief proponent.

“In Illinois, suicide has been a leading cause of death for youth aged 10–17 from 2007 to 2015,” said Illinois Association for Behavioral Health CEO Sara Howe, citing a 2018 Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago report. “That’s why the Illinois Association for Behavioral Health led the fight to have lawmakers approve a mental health first aid teacher training law.”

The new law, Senate Bill 1731, sponsored by State Senator David Koehler (D-Peoria) and State Rep. Maurice West (D-Rockford), authorizes Illinois school districts to utilize the Illinois Mental Health First Aid training program, to provide the in-service training for teachers. In addition, if school personnel or an administrator obtains the mental health first aid training outside of an in-service training program, the school employees may present a certificate of successful completion of the training to the school district to satisfy the requirements of the law.

Suicide by Illinois youth has been steadily rising for years, Howe says.

According to the report by the Injury Prevention and Research Center at Lurie Children’s, suicide among 10 to 17-year-olds in Illinois has risen steadily among males from 2007 to 2015 and has also risen among females from 2010 to 2015.

“We are concerned that suicide is the third leading cause of death for males aged 10 to 17 and the second leading cause of death for females of the same age, and that this has been the case for some time,” said Maryann Mason, PhD, Principal Investigator of the Illinois Violent Death Reporting System.

The report notes that 64.5% of suicides among youth 10 to 17 years in Illinois occur by hanging/strangulation and 22.7% by firearm. The data also indicate that most (73.4%) suicides among this age group occur at home and that Saturdays (16.6%) and Thursdays (15.4%) have increased likelihood of suicide for Illinois youth of this age.

“Nearly 2 million Americans have been trained in Mental Health First Aid, and today Illinois has taken a step towards growing that community with the enactment of SB 1731,” said Chuck Ingoglia, President and CEO of the National Council for Behavioral Health.“This bill will encourage more Illinois educators to take a Youth Mental Health First Aid course, which will ensure they have the skills needed to support students who may be facing a behavioral health challenge.”

Ingoglia also applauded Koehler, West, and Pritzker for their support of the mental health first aid legislation.

“We thank Senator David Koehler and Rep. Maurice West for championing this legislation and Governor J.B. Pritzker for signing it into law,” said Ingoglia.

The new law takes effect on January 1, 2020.

davidormsby@davidormsby.com