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1
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, In Illinois, suicide is the eleventh leading cause
3of death and results in more than 1,000 deaths each year; for
4young adults 15 to 34 years of age, suicide is the third
5leading cause of death in Illinois; and
 
6    WHEREAS, In Illinois, men are three to four times more
7likely than women to die from suicide, while more women than
8men report attempting suicide; and
 
9    WHEREAS, Suicide rates are higher among middle aged adults,
10but suicide attempt rates are higher among young people; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Suicide was the tenth leading cause of death in
12the United States in 2017; it is often a consequence of
13untreated mental illness and substance use disorders and as
14such is a preventable condition; and
 
15    WHEREAS, More than 47,000 Americans died by suicide, and
16more than 1.4 million adults attempted suicide in 2017; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Suicide is the second leading cause of death among
18young people aged 10 to 24, who have seen a 56 percent rise in
19suicide rates from 2007 to 2017; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, At-risk populations, such as veterans, LGBTQ
2youth, and American Indians, have been shown to be particularly
3vulnerable; and
 
4    WHEREAS, More than 20 veterans die by suicide every day;
5between 2008 and 2016, there were more than 6,000 veteran
6suicides each year; and
 
7    WHEREAS, A person with mental health issues will often be
8vulnerable to suicide, in part because they lack access to care
9or will not have a positive response to the care they receive;
10and
 
11    WHEREAS, The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
12Administration (SAMHSA) has reported positive results
13regarding the effectiveness of the Suicide Prevention Hotline
14in reductions of suicidal ideation and hopelessness, improved
15suicide risk assessment, response to callers at imminent risk,
16and improving follow-up; therefore, be it
 
17    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL
18ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
19CONCURRING HEREIN, that we support all efforts to make it
20easier for Americans in crisis to access potentially
21life-saving resources about suicide prevention, intervention,
22and mental health crisis by the Federal Communications

 

 

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1Commission (FCC); and be it further
 
2    RESOLVED, That we urge the FCC to establish a new hotline
3for those Americans experiencing suicidal thoughts or a mental
4health crisis; and be it further
 
5    RESOLVED, That we urge the Commission to initiate a
6rulemaking proceeding to consider designating 988 as the
73-digit code to be used for this purpose.