Tribes get $140,000 for youth suicide prevention

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BY KEVIN ABOUREZK / Lincoln Journal Star

This is the time of year you have to watch.

Look for the warning signs: changes in behavior or personality.

Giving away their belongings.

When students get out of school for the summer — that’s when John Penn watches closely for suicide warning signs among youth of the Omaha Tribe.

This summer, the executive director of the Omaha Nation Community Response Team will have help in his efforts to prevent substance abuse, domestic violence and youth suicide on the Omaha Indian Reservation in northeast Nebraska.

That help comes in the form of funding from the state of Nebraska to help prevent youth suicide.

“This is the first time they’ve really earmarked money for suicide prevention, and we’re really happy about it,” Penn said.

On Friday, the Nebraska Health and Human Services System approved $140,000 for Native youth suicide prevention efforts. The money will be divided among the state’s four tribes: Ponca, Omaha, Winnebago and Santee.

Each tribe will receive $35,000, said Larry Voegele, health program manager in the state’s Office of Minority Health. Each tribe must submit a proposal for how it plans to use the money. State health officials will then review and approve or deny the proposals, he said.

The money comes from the state’s Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities program, Voegele said, and is a one-time award that may be renewed later should funds be available.

The Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs, Gov. Dave Heineman’s office and health officials requested the money, he said. The money comes less than six months after the commission decided to dedicate its efforts to reducing Native youth suicide.

It’s a problem tribal leaders fear is growing.

Nationally, Native people, ages 15 to 24, commit suicide at a rate 3.3 times higher than those of other ethnic groups.

On the Santee Sioux Reservation in Nebraska, at least three teens have taken their lives since September 2005. Last year, at least three others attempted suicide on the reservation that 1,000 Santee call home.

“The kids are lacking hope,” said Judi Morgan gaiashkibos, the commission’s director. “We have to find a way to make these kids want to show up for life.”

She said the money will help the tribes in their efforts to stop their youth from taking their own lives, though it certainly won’t solve the problem.

Many factors lead Native youth to want to take their own lives, she said, including lack of recreational opportunities and jobs. Sexual assaults of women and children exacerbate the problem, she said.

It will be important to get youth involved in suicide prevention efforts, she said.

“If we get the youth’s input, that’s really the only way we’re going to make changes,” she said.

That’s just what Penn of the Omaha Tribe plans to do.

He said his tribe plans to use its share of the state funds to organize a summer youth camp designed in large part by youth workers. The camp will be held July 16 and will include speakers, boating and fishing.

“The youth have to have a voice in planning what we’re doing so we’re not doing things for them but doing things with them,” he said.

The camp, he said, will provide his tribe’s youth an opportunity to talk about the things that are troubling them. He said it’s important to be proactive in trying to prevent youth suicide rather than just reacting to it when it happens.

While he expressed gratitude for the state’s contribution to youth suicide prevention efforts, more must be done, he said.

“I think it’s a good start.”

Reach Kevin Abourezk at 473-7225 or kabourezk@journalstar.com.