§803. Legislative findings and declaration; purpose

A. The legislature hereby finds and declares all of the following:

(1) An individual suicide is a tragic event, and suicide generally is now recognized as a serious public health concern.

(2) According to the 2016 America's Health Rankings report, the number of deaths due to suicide per one hundred thousand population in the United States rose steadily from 2012 through 2016, and Louisiana's rate of deaths from suicide is nearly ten percent higher than the national average.

(3) While suicide occurs among persons of all ages, ethnic backgrounds, and income levels, it is an especially troubling problem among youth in Louisiana, with suicide ranking as the second-leading cause of death in this state for persons between the ages of ten and twenty-four in 2014, the most recent year for which complete data are available.

(4) Suicide is a pronounced public health concern among military veterans nationwide and in Louisiana particularly, as Louisiana's veteran suicide rate is over ten percent higher than that of the nation and of the southern region.

(5) Enhancing suicide awareness and prevention has been a priority of the Legislature of Louisiana as evidenced by the final passage, or final adoption and concurrence, of all of the following acts and concurrent resolutions:

(a) Act 86 of the 2017 Regular Session, providing for in-service training on suicide prevention for teachers and other employees of nonpublic and charter schools, as had previously been provided in law for teachers and other employees of traditional public schools.

(b) Act 582 of the 2014 Regular Session, providing relative to suicide assessment, intervention, treatment, and management training for several health professions.

(c) House Concurrent Resolution No. 152 of the 2016 Regular Session, recognizing the month of September as suicide prevention awareness month in this state and urging greater awareness of the problem of suicide, particularly among military veterans.

(d) Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 75 of the 2014 Regular Session, requesting that the department develop a list of best practice suicide prevention training programs to make available for groups of professionals and citizens to take voluntarily.

(e) House Concurrent Resolution No. 15 of the 2013 Regular Session, requesting the department to study the most effective means by which to reduce the rate of suicide in this state and report its findings to the legislative committees on health and welfare.

(6) Healthcare settings, including mental and behavioral health systems, primary care clinics, physical and mental health clinics in educational institutions, and hospitals are valuable access points to reach those at risk for suicide.

(7) National data indicate all of the following:

(a) Over thirty percent of individuals are receiving mental health care at the time of their deaths by suicide.

(b) Approximately forty-five percent of persons who die by suicide have seen a primary care physician within one month of their deaths, illustrating that primary care is often the entry point into the health system for individuals who are less likely to seek out mental health services.

(c) Approximately twenty-five percent of those who die by suicide visited an emergency department in the month prior to their deaths.

(8) Healthcare facilities and providers including but not limited to mental health professionals, behavioral health services providers, primary care providers, and hospitals that have implemented a suicide prevention model such as that provided for in Part II of this Chapter have noted significant reductions in suicide deaths among patients within their care.

(9) Identifying and putting into practice an effective means of suicide prevention such as that provided for in this Chapter is a vital public health priority for this state.

B. The legislature hereby declares that the purpose of this Chapter is to combat a dire public problem in this state by creating and providing for the zero suicide initiative, a systems approach and national best practice for addressing suicide as a public health issue.

Acts 2018, No. 450, §1.