MILTON — City council is exploring ways to spread awareness on teen suicide prevention. At the Oct. 1 executive meeting council presented an idea on bringing a program to the city to help address the issue.
City Manager Randy Jorgenson said that a member of the council had approached him about this idea.
“We have begun to research the issue to find resources of information on the subject matter,” Jorgenson said in his council agenda statement. “[We] identified an organization to assist the community in combating this social problem."
Jorgenson presented the council with information on the program Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide. According to the program’s website at www.sptsusa.org, two people who lost friends to suicide formed SPTS in 2005. The website says they formed this group in part because they were surprised to learn suicide was the third leading cause of death to youth in America at the time.
Currently, according to SPTS, suicide is the second leading cause of death between the ages of 10 and 24.
Council referred the issue to the Leadership, Education, Activities, Programs (LEAP) Committee, headed by Councilwoman Mary Ellen Johnson for further development.
This article originally appeared on Santa Rosa Press Gazette: Milton city council seeks to bring suicide prevention awareness to city