BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    �



                                                                  SCR 71
                                                                  Page  1

          Date of Hearing:   September 11, 2013

                             ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON RULES
                              Richard S. Gordon, Chair
                  SCR 71 (Torres) - As Introduced:  August 22, 2013

           SENATE VOTE  :   38-0
           
          SUBJECT  :   Suicide Prevention Week in California.

           SUMMARY  :   Proclaims the week of September 8, 2013, through  
          September 14, 2013, as Suicide Prevention Week in California.   
          Specifically,  this resolution  makes the following legislative  
          findings:

          1)California recognizes suicide as a public health problem and  
            suicide prevention as a statewide responsibility and  
            designating the second week of September as "Suicide  
            Prevention Week in California" would overlap with World  
            Suicide Prevention Day, which occurs on September 10, 2013,  
            and is recognized internationally and supported by the World  
            Health Organization.

          2)Suicide is the 10th leading cause of all deaths in the United  
            States and the 44th leading cause of all deaths in California  
            and on average, 105 people commit suicide every day in the  
            U.S., which equals approximately one person every 14.2  
            minutes.

          3)In the U.S., rates of suicide are highest among people from 45  
            to 54 years of age, and rates of suicide among youth who are  
            from 15 to 24 years of age, have increased more than 200  
            percent in the last 50 years.

          4)Each day, an estimated 22 veterans in the U.S. commit suicide,  
            which equals approximately one veteran every 65 minutes.

          5)A great many suicides are preventable and most suicidal people  
            display warning signals of their intentions; however, others  
            are often unaware of these signals or unsure what to do about  
            them.

          6)The State of California established the Department of Health  
            Care Services-Suicide Prevention Programs (SPP), published the  
            California Strategic Plan on Suicide Prevention in 2008, and  








                                                                  SCR 71
                                                                  Page  2

            has supported multiple statewide and local projects launched  
            under the mental Health Services Act (Proposition 63).

          7)The State of California recognizes the efforts of  
            organizations such as the American Association of Suicidology  
            that are dedicated to reducing the frequency of suicide  
            attempts and deaths and the pain of survivors of suicide  
            through educational programs, research programs, intervention  
            services, and bereavement services.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :   None

           REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION  :

          Support 
           
          None on file
           
            Opposition 
           
          None on file

           Analysis Prepared by  :    Nicole Willis / RLS. / (916) 319-2800