Epi-Aid Preliminary Report on Youth Suicide
In November of 2015, the California Department of Public Health, on behalf of the Santa Clara County Public Health Department, asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to assist our community in better understanding youth suicide in Santa Clara County.
In partnership with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the CDC is conducting an Epi-Aid investigation on youth suicide. Using a public health approach, the purpose of this Epi-Aid is to understand the characteristics and trends of fatal and non-fatal suicidal behavior among youth in Santa Clara County.
Epi-Aids are designed to provide short-term assistance for urgent public health problems and are not research. For this reason, this Epi-Aid is using and analyzing only existing quantitative datasets and will not be collecting new data. It will provide an important baseline description of the patterns of youth suicide in the county. This approach means that the Epi-Aid will answer some, but not all, possible questions about suicide and suicidal behaviors in our community.
This preliminary report begins to provide the facts about youth suicide in Santa Clara County. This early report is not a comprehensive picture of youth suicide in the county. While limited and subject to change, this report leads to a final report. The sub-set of information in the preliminary report will be included in the final report, which should be released by the end of the year.
This early look includes information on youth suicide rates, demographic characteristics of suicide deaths in youth ages 10 to 24 years, and factors associated with youth deaths by suicide. Among other findings, it shows that youth suicide has increased in Santa Clara County since 2003, mirroring trends in California and the United States as a whole. Youth deaths by suicides are more common among males and youth ages 20 to 24.
Download the preliminary report here.
