The Arkansas Youth Suicide Prevention Task Force has addressed the following mission statements: (1) Assist in increasing the awareness of youth suicide among school personnel and community leaders; (2) Enhance the school climate and relationships between teachers, counselors, and students to encourage everyone to recognize the signs of suicidal tendencies and other facts about youth suicide; (3) Encourage the development and implementation of school-based youth suicide prevention programs and pilot projects; (4) Utilize community resources in the development and implementation of youth suicide prevention programs through cooperative efforts; (5) Increase the awareness of students of the relationship between drug and alcohol use and youth suicide; (6) Advocate for programs to collect data on youth suicide attempts; and (7) Develop a program of suicide prevention for distribution to the schools of the State of Arkansas.
Please see the attachment for details from these contributing persons: Judy Camden, Ellon Cockrell, Leslie Knod, Zachary Lamkin, Barbara Langlois, Kaleb McBay, Jon-Michael Poff, J.B. Robertson, Carol Robinson, Marina Swanson, Dr. Lynn Taylor, Becky Watkins and Melinda Wood.