CINCINNATI — Local leaders are working to tackle suicide rates among young people that have been on the rise in recent years.
Clark Flatt knows this all too well.
“When I walked in, I found my son had taken his life,” he said.
Flatt started his day in 1997 like any other, not knowing he would be met with the unthinkable. He described his 16-year-old son Jason as an all-American kid.
“Why didn’t he want to play sports anymore?" he said he'd asked himself after his son died. "His grades had started to drop.”
He said everyone missed the warning signs that Jason was suicidal.
"So, was there a lot of things going on that, if I had seen that, it would have said he's suicidal?" Flatt said. "No, but it would have said something's going on in his life that I need to dig deeper in and we possibly need to get some professional help to make sure it is just adolescence."
Flatt knew he wanted to help others through what he went through, or better yet, help prevent it. So he created The Jason Foundation.
Suicide is one of the leading causes of preventable death in our nation today. We lose an average of more than 125 young people each week to this tragedy that can be prevented.Together, we can save lives!https://t.co/Y8uHomkp2W pic.twitter.com/j4HlKCcfZx
— The Jason Foundation (@JasonFoundation) December 20, 2023
“It's a day you’ll never forget,” Flatt said.
The Ohio Department of Health has partnered with seven suicide prevention coalitions across the state on the same mission. They shelled out a total of $350,000 and $50,000 each for programming, research and more.
“Its a truly huge concern we have in Hamilton County right now,” Hamilton County Suicide Prevention Coalition Coordinator Mary Wolff said.
She said they were able to apply for the grant because of the high rates of African American youth suicides, which have doubled since 2018.
The first step is outreach. The coalition plans to speak with young people ages 10 to 24 to figure out what's going on in their world and help them with whatever they need.
"We have the program we're calling 'You Belong.' Because we recognize that for young people, that sense of belonging to a community, feeling like you fit in, feeling like you have a tribe is incredibly important," she said.
According to the CDC about 1 in 4 young people seriously consider suicide. The advocates want to do everything they can to get that number to zero.
"People being able to live our best lives to enjoy wellness to their full potential that’s the mission," Wolff said.
If you or someone you know needs help, please call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or visit 988lifeline.org[988lifeline.org] and click on the chat button.
Watch Live:
