As promised after its formation and first formal event last year, the Newtown Suicide Prevention Initiative in partnership with The Newtown Bee is moving into 2021 with plans to host a panel focusing on the escalating incidents of suicides and attempts by youths.

The program is being held as emergency health workers across the nation are seeing significant increases in youth suicide cases, attempts, and ideation.

According to an early February National Public Radio report, Dr Vera Feuer, director of pediatric emergency psychiatry at Cohen Children’s Medical Center of Northwell Health in New York, said more suicidal children are coming to their hospitals — in worse mental states.

“The kids that we are seeing now in the emergency department are really at the stage of maybe even having tried or attempted or have a detailed plan,” Feuer told NPR. That observation was echoed by similar medical system representatives.

At UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland (California), the fall of 2020 saw double the number of suicidal young people from the fall of 2019, according to a psychologist and coordinator for the hospital’s behavioral emergency response team. And at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, NPR reported the number of children and teens hospitalized after suicide attempts was up from 67 in 2019 to 108 in 2020.

Statistics just in from October 2020 saw a 250% increase in these numbers over the previous October, said Riley Hospital pediatric psychologist Hillary Blake.

Psychiatrists and other doctors who work with children say the pandemic has created a perfect storm of stressors for kids, increasing the risk of suicide for many. It has exacerbated an ongoing children’s mental health crisis, as suicide rates have already been escalating for almost a decade among children and youth, NPR reported.

Similar and alarming increases in suicides and attempts locally have prompted the Newtown initiative to respond.

Initiative leaders Anna Wiedemann, chair of Newtown’s Commission On Aging (COA), and Selectman Maureen Crick Owen said the first event of the year will take place Monday, March 29 from 6 to 7 pm, via Zoom and webcast on The Newtown Bee’s Facebook page.

The webcast will be posted afterward to the newspaper’s YouTube channel to view and share.

The March 29 program, “Youth Suicide Awareness & Prevention,” will include two specialists from Connecticut Children’s who will brief viewers on that health system’s good outcomes utilizing Universal Suicide Risk Screening and the ASQ (Ask Suicide Screening Questions) screening tool. The Connecticut Children’s health center in Danbury is a primary intake and resource location for Newtown children and teens experiencing behavioral health issues.

Its representatives will be Steven C. Rogers, MD, MS-CTR, an attending physician with the Division of Emergency Medicine, and medical director of Emergency Behavioral Health Services at Connecticut Children’s. Dr Rogers is also a research scientist at Connecticut Children’s Injury Prevention Center, and an associate professor at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.

He will be joined by Kevin Borrup, DrPH, JD, MPA, executive director for the Injury Prevention Center at Connecticut Children’s Office for Community Child Health and an assistant professor in pediatrics at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.

Newtown Police Department Youth Officer William Chapman has been invited to talk with parents and younger viewers about recognizing possible signs of distress that could trigger suicidal thoughts and possible attempts. Newtown Middle School health educator Andrew Tammaro will speak to help parents, grandparents, siblings, and caregivers understand how health curricula approach and address suicide awareness and prevention, as well as convey what he is seeing and hearing in his own classroom.

Selectman Owen will also be part of the discussion, representing families who have lost younger loved ones to suicide, as she and her family have. Presentations are expected to take approximately 10 minutes for each guest, leaving plenty of time for more informal discussion, questions, and answers.

The panel will be moderated by Newtown Bee Associate Editor John Voket, whose family has also experienced a suicide loss. Other special guests may be added to the program, which is in the final stages of development. More information will be included in future event notices.

Anyone wishing to have a question considered can send it in advance by e-mail to the moderator at john@thebee.com. Or save the date and time so you can plan to tune in — it may just be a life-saving experience.

If you know anyone talking about suicide, or are concerned about someone you know, in Connecticut, call 211 and ask for Mobile Crisis Intervention Services for children; text “CT” to 741741; or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255.