TSPN Call to Action FACT SHEETS FROM CHILDREN S SAFETY NETWORK SHED LIGHT ON YOUTH SUICIDE IN TENNESSEE INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

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1 VOLUME 8, ISSUE 5 MAY 2012 TSPN Call to Action T E N N E S S E E S U I C I D E P R E V E N T I O N N E T W O R K INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Suicide Prevention Conference in Murfreesboro Grief After Suicide Announcements Advisory Council Retreat Tennessee Men s Health Report Card Bully Rating Changed to PG Revised State Budget 4 TSPN Regional Calendar Advisory Council Contact Information PLUS PARK BOULEVARD, SUITE 201 NASHVILLE, TN PHONE: (615) FAX: (615) TSPN@TSPN.ORG FACT SHEETS FROM CHILDREN S SAFETY NETWORK SHED LIGHT ON YOUTH SUICIDE IN TENNESSEE The Children s Safety Network (CSN), a national resource center for the prevention of childhood injuries and violence, has released state-specific fact sheets detailing major causes of injury and death for children and young adults, including suicides and suicide attempts. CSN provides consultation and analysis to state and local agencies across the United States regarding youth injury prevention planning and implementation, with the goal of helping states and communities reach child health and injury/violence prevention objectives. CSN is a project of Education Development Center, Inc (EDC), which also oversees the operations of the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC). CSN is funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau within the Health Resources and Services Administration, which itself is a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. More information about CSN is available at their website ( The state fact sheets offer color charts and figures regarding several different causes of child fatality, injury, and morbidity, including the following points about youth suicide in Tennessee: Suicide is the third-ranking cause of death among persons years of age in Tennessee. It is the second-leading cause of injury death among children (behind motor-vehicle accidents) and the third-leading cause for ages Self-inflicted injuries are the second-leading cause of hospital-admitted injuries (again, behind motor-vehicle accidents) among the age group. Suicide rates generally declined in Tennessee between 2004 and 2008, while holding steady or rising nationally. But the number of high-school age children who considered or attempted suicide between 2003 and 2009 (as determined by the Tennessee Youth Risk Behavior Survey) was at or above the national rate. Suicide rates for white youth aged in Tennessee are nearly twice that of nonwhites. Suicide rates for males in the age group are three times that of females; within the group males died at five times the rate of females. This graphic from the CSN fact sheets shows the decline in the suicide rate for Tennessee youth aged between , a period in which the national rate held steady or increased. The fact sheets for Tennessee and other states are available for review at childrenssafetynetwork.org/states. If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact the Children s Safety Network at csninfo@edc.org. Another graphic from CSN illustrates means of suicide death among Tennessee youth aged The 60% figure roughly matches the proportion of adult suicides involving firearms.

2 TSPN CALL TO ACTION SUICIDE PREVENTION CONFERENCE IN MURFREESBORO MAY 12 The Suicide Prevention and the African-American Faith Communities Mini-Conference will be held 8 AM-1 PM on Saturday, May 12 at the Patterson Park Community Center, located at 521 Mercury Boulevard in Murfreesboro. This free event, subtitled Silencing the Silent Epidemic, Part II, is the latest in a series of conferences devoted to suicide prevention awareness within churches and other houses of worship that predominately serve the African-American community. It is a project of the Rutherford County Suicide Prevention Coalition, a newly established task force of the Tennessee Suicide Prevention Network. Pastor James Butler of Elders Chapel United Methodist Church in Smyrna will facilitate this event, which will host several distinguished state and local clergy and experts in the field of mental health. Murfreesboro Mayor Tommy Bragg and City Council member Madelyn Scales Harris are expected to attend as representatives of local government. Speakers and panelists will explore the problem of suicide within the African-American community, the effect and response to depression and other mental illnesses, and recommended strategies for suicide prevention and crisis response. Lunch will be served at this conference, which offers four contact hours and a certificate of attendance for all participants. The full conference agenda is available on the TSPN website ( To register for this conference, fill out and submit the registration form ( REGISTRATION.pdf). For more information about the event, contact Gwen Hamer at (615) or gwen.hamer@tn.gov. The public is also invited to the next meeting of the Rutherford County Suicide Prevention Coalition, set for 6 PM on May 2 at ITNOLAP Pallet & Crating, located at 651 Middle Tennessee Road in Murfreesboro. Subsequent meetings will be held at the same time and location on the first Wednesday of the month; more information is available from Kim Rush at (615) or krush@vbhcs.org. While the current conference focuses primarily on suicide within the African-American community, the Coalition welcomes any and all interested parties regardless of race or spiritual affiliation. GRIEF AFTER SUICIDE RETREAT AND QUILT UPDATE Two important announcements for TSPN's Grief After Suicide community: ~~~ The Parents of Suicides/Friends and Families of Suicides (POS-FFOS) Support Groups will host the Grief After Suicide Retreat in Columbia on the weekend of May 18. This is a wonderful opportunity to spend a week-end with others who understand what it's like to have lost someone to suicide. For more information and registration information contact Karyl Chastain Beal at karylofcolumbia@cs.com or call (931) Photos from previous retreats are available in the retreat's Picasa Web album ( bit.ly/hsklsm). ~~~ Additionally, TSPN's Quilt Committee is soliciting additional panels for the next "Love Never Dies" Memorial Quilt in time for its anticipated debut at the statewide Suicide Prevention Awareness Day event in September. There is no charge for submitting a panel, all you need to do is provide one or more photos and some basic information about your loved one. Details are available from Ms. Chastain Beal at the address and phone number above. We hope you will take advantage of one or both of these opportunities for healing, recovery, and outreach. In the meantime, the TSPN website's "We Remember Them" page ( a listing of persons remembered on the quilts, is in the process of being redesigned, so remember to check back on occasion for the latest updates. Quilt #6 (above) and quilt #7 (below) were presented at the Suicide Prevention Awareness Day event held September 14, 2011 (photos courtesy of Karyl Chastain Beal). PAGE 2

3 VOLUME 8, ISSUE 5 ADVISORY COUNCIL RETREAT SET FOR JUNE 6-7 The retreat proceedings will take place at the Montgomery Bell State Park Inn (photo courtesy of the park website at tn.gov/environment/parks/montgomerybell). The annual TSPN retreat has been confirmed for Wednesday, June 6, and Thursday, June 7, at Montgomery Bell State Park Inn, located at 1020 Jackson Hill Road in Burns. The retreat will include a business meeting of the Advisory Council, during which members will plan Network activities and emphases for the next fiscal year. Members will provide updates regarding regional projects, and Advisory Council committees will discuss major agenda items. Confirmed speakers for this session include Clark Flatt, President/CEO of the Jason Foundation, Inc., who will provide information on the Guard Your Buddy smartphone application developed for the Tennessee National Guard. Maj. Gen. Max Haston of the National Guard has been invited to provide additional information about the development and logistics of the app. Rodney Bragg, Assistant Commissioner for the Division of Alcohol and Drug Services within Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (TDMHSAS) will discuss the role of substance abuse services within suicide prevention. Also, Sejal West, the new Assistant Commissioner for Mental Health Services within TDMHSAS, will speak about her new role within the Department and her vision for suicide prevention. (Bragg and West had planned to address the last Advisory Council meeting on February 8 but were called away at the last minute to testify at a state budget hearing.) While the event is intended primarily for members of the Advisory Council and Intra-State Departmental Group, the sessions are open to the general public. We are looking forward to seeing TSPN s leadership at this event. TENNESSEE MEN S HEALTH REPORT CARD TO BE RELEASED JUNE 12 The 2012 Tennessee Men's Health Report Card will be publicly presented on Tuesday, June 12, in an event at LP Field in Nashville. A meet-and-greet will begin in the Club Level at 10 AM prior to the formal presentation at 10:30. The Report Card is a joint production of Meharry Medical College, the Tennessee Department of Health, and the Vanderbilt Institute for Medicine and Public Health. It highlights statewide data trends regarding causes of death, infectious disease, health behaviors, and obstacles to wellness including suicide among adult men across the state. It also grades the state of Tennessee's progress towards the goals set forth in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services's "Healthy People 2020" initiative. The last Report Card, issued in 2010, gave the state a failing grade for suicide prevention efforts, noting that the suicide rate among adult males in Tennessee went up by 16.7% between 2003 and In that final year of analysis, suicide was the third-leading cause of death among males and the fourth-leading cause for men aged The report advised that advances in mental health care and awareness are critical to improving the overall status of men s health in the state of Tennessee, stating that increased mental health awareness and psychological care for men are crucial to lowering suicide rates for men in particular and Tennessee as a whole. Free parking will be available, along with light refreshments. More information about the event and the Report Card itself is available online at tnmenshealthreportcard.vanderbilt.edu or via at tnmenshealthreporcard@vanderbilt.edu. The cover of the 2010 report, courtesy of the Tennessee Men s Health Report Card website. PAGE 3

4 TSPN CALL TO ACTION BULLY RATING CHANGED TO PG-13 AFTER EDITS The documentary Bully has been released with a PG-13 rating from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) following minor edits. The film was previously to have been released unrated or rated R, which would have considerably reduced the opportunity for children and teens to see the film. The anti-bullying documentary includes graphic depictions of bullying in school environments and discusses the suicide deaths of two youths following extended periods of bullying and harassment by classmates. The film includes adult language, which prompted the original R rating. Nearly half a million people signed a Change.org petition organized by Michigan high school student Katy Butler urging MPAA to reclassify Bully as PG-13; the petition effort received widespread media attention and was endorsed by several celebrities and members of Congress (see the April edition of the TSPN Call to Action for details). Ultimately the Weinstein Company, the studio that produced the film, and the MPAA reached a compromise: the film would be classified PG-13 in exchange for a few language edits. Outside of this, all other footage and dialogue was untouched. The official movie poster, as seen on the film s promotional website ( Bully premiered March 30 at select theatres in Los Angeles and New York (while still unrated), with national release on April 13. At present, the film is only playing at two theatres in the state the Regal Green Hills 16 in Nashville and the Carmike Thoroughbred 20 in Franklin. The film has received largely positive reviews and currently holds an 87% Fresh rating on the Rotten Tomatoes film review aggregator website. REVISED STATE BUDGET RESTORES MENTAL HEALTH FUNDING Governor Bill Haslam has announced a revised budget for the next fiscal year that includes restored funding to several mental health and social service agencies. The new budget was announced in a press release from the Office of the Governor on April 2. It includes additional items not included in the original version presented in January, taking into new projections regarding state revenue streams. The new budget includes $10 million in additional funding intended for core services and a further reduction on the state s food tax. These funds supplement the roughly $100 million in cuts slated for the FY budget, but postponed until FY thanks to a one-time allocation of federal funds. This budget amendment continues that focus by making targeted investments in the short term that allow us to plan for a more comprehensive approach to our budget decisions in the long term, Haslam says in the press release. I am pleased that we re able to restore funding for programs important to Tennesseans. We will continue to evaluate all of our funding priorities in the context of the broad picture of our state s needs. Photo of Governor Haslam courtesy of the Governor s website ( Mental health practitioners and advocates will be pleased by the additional $1.4 million allocated for Tennessee s mental health peer support centers. Also, another $1 million is being provided to the Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities for family support services; these funds are in addition to the $4.5 million previously added into the January proposal. Suicide prevention advocates will appreciate the new budget s $375,000 proposal to fund a statewide poison control center this resource could help save the lives of people who attempt suicide by poisoning, especially in cases where a poisoning or overdose is not initially identified as a suicide attempt. A copy of the press release is available for review on the TSPN home page ( Additional information about the new budget is available from David Smith within the Office of the Governor at (615) PAGE 4

5 VOLUME 8, ISSUE 5 TSPN REGIONAL CALENDAR No December meetings are scheduled unless otherwise marked. Dates in bold and in cornflower indicate alternate meeting dates intended to accommodate state holidays or other previously scheduled events. East Tennessee Region monthly, 3rd Thursday, 12:00 PM Mental Health Association of East Tennessee, Inc., 9050 Executive Park Drive, Suite 104-A, Knoxville, May 17, June 21, July 19, August 16, September 20, October 18, and November 15 Memphis/Shelby County Region monthly, 3rd Tuesday, 11:30 AM The Community Foundation of Greater Memphis, 1900 Union Avenue, Memphis, May 15, June 19, July 17, August 21, September 18, October 16, and November 20 Mid-Cumberland Region monthly, 2nd Thursday, 9:30 AM Goodwill Industries of Middle Tennessee, Inc., 937 Herman Street, Nashville, May 10, June 14, July 12, August 9, September 13, October 11, and November 8 Northeast Region monthly, 4th Tuesday, 10:30 AM Boone s Creek Christian Church, 305 Christian Church Road, Gray, May 22, June 26, July 24, August 28, September 25, October 23, and November 27 Rural West monthly, 3rd Wednesday, 10:30 AM Behavioral Health Initiatives, 36C Sandstone Circle, Jackson, May 16, June 20, July 18, August 15, September 19, October 17, and November 14 South Central monthly, 2nd Monday, 11:00 AM Conference Room A, South Central Regional Health Office, 1216 Trotwood Avenue, Columbia, May 14, June 11, July 9, August 13, September 10, October 15, November 19, and December 10 Southeast Region monthly, 1st Thursday, 10:00 AM Johnson Mental Health Center, 420 Bell Avenue, Chattanooga, May 3, June 7, July 5, August 2, September 6, October 4, November 1, and December 6 Upper Cumberland Region monthly, 4th Thursday, 9:00 AM Volunteer Behavioral Health Care Systems, 1200 Willow Avenue, Cookeville, May 24, June 28, July 26, August 23, September 27, October 25, and November 15 Intra-State Department Meetings Third Floor Conference Room, Tennessee Department of Mental Health, Cordell Hull Building, 425 Fifth Avenue North, Nashville, (3:00 PM) August 8 and November 7 Rachel Moore poses with the Hickman-Perry County Suicide Prevention Task Force s exhibit at the Buds and Blooms event on March 24. Over 100 people attended the event, a project of the Hickman County Health Council. Moore and Karen Rogers (not pictured) provided local resource directories, National Suicide Prevention Lifeline magnets, and other materials to visitors (photo courtesy Jennifer Harris). Advisory Council June 6-7 (Montgomery Bell State Park Inn, Burns) September 12 (Suicide Prevention Awareness Day event at Trevecca Community Church, Nashville) Blount County Mental Health Awareness and Suicide Prevention Alliance monthly, 1st Friday, 12:00 PM Blount County Health Department Conference Room, 302 McGhee Street, Maryville, May 4, June 1, July 6, August 3, September 7, October 5, November 2, and December 7 Davidson County Suicide Prevention Task Force monthly, 4th Wednesday, 3:00 PM Metro Public Health Department, rd Avenue North, Nashville, May 23, June 27, July 25, August 22, September 26, October 24, and November 28 Giles County Suicide Prevention Task Force quarterly, 3rd Monday, 1:30 PM Giles County Career Center, 125 South Cedar Lane, Pulaski, June 11, September 17, and December 17 Hickman-Perry County Suicide Prevention Task Force monthly, 4th Friday, 1:30 PM Senior Care Building, Hickman Community Hospital, 135 East Swan Street, Centerville, May 25, June 22, July 27, August 24, September 28, October 26, and November 16 Montgomery-Houston-Humphreys-Stewart Suicide Prevention Task Force monthly, 1st Tuesday, 9 AM Behavioral HealthCare Center at Clarksville, 930 Professional Park Drive, Clarksville, May 1, June 5, July 3, August 7, September 4, October 2, November 6, and December 4 Rutherford County Suicide Prevention Coalition monthly, 1st Wednesday, 6 PM ITNOLAP Pallet & Crating, 651 Middle Tennessee Road, Murfreesboro, May 2, June 6, July 11, August 1, September 5, October 3, November 7, and December 5 PAGE 5

6 ADVISORY COUNCIL CONTACT INFORMATION If you are interested in getting involved with TSPN on a local level or have other questions, contact the chairperson of your region as indicated by the map provided below: East Tennessee region Anne Young, MS, CAS (865) anneyoung@cornerstoneofrecovery.com Memphis and Shelby County Madge Tullis (901) kfttenn@ktullis.com Mid-Cumberland region Stephanie Barger, M.Div. (270) stephanie@healthassisttn.org Northeast region Harold Leonard, MA, LPC-MHSP (423) hleonard@centurylink.net Rural West region Anne Henning-Rowan, MS (731) annerowan@hughes.net South Central region Karyl Chastain Beal, MEd, CT (931) karylcb@bellsouth.net Southeast region Tim Tatum, MA (423) tim_tatum@chs.net Upper Cumberland region Jodi Bartlett, Ed. S, LPC-MHSP (931) or (931) , ext. 166 jbartlett@vbhcs.org Advisory Council Chair Madge Tullis (901) kfttenn@ktullis.com Executive Director Scott Ridgway, MS (615) sridgway@tspn.org Advisory Council Chair Emeritus Sam Bernard, PhD, FAAETS, DABCEM (423) sam@sambernard.info Lake Lauderdale Obion Henry Weakley Dyer Gibson Carroll Crockett Haywood Madison Tipton Chester Henderson Benton Decatur Stewart Houston Humphreys Perry Montgomery Dickson Hickman Lewis Cheatham Maury Robertson Davidson Williamson Marshall Macon Sumner Clay Pickett Scott Claiborne Hancock Fentress Campbell Hawkins Trousdale Jackson Overton Union Smith Wilson Rutherford Bedford Cannon Putnam Morgan De Kalb Cumberland White Roane Warren Coffee Grundy Van Buren Sequatchie Bledsoe Rhea Meigs McMinn Knox Loudon Blount Monroe Anderson Grainger Hamblen Jefferson Cocke Sevier Greene Washington Unicoi Sullivan Carter Johnson Shelby Fayette Hardeman McNairy Hardin Wayne Lawrence Giles Lincoln Moore Franklin Marion Hamilton Bradley Polk