Catlin bill aimed at helping to prevent youth suicide

If one of these institutions does not utilize student identification cards, the bill calls for that school to distribute this information to the student body every semester or trimester.

“What it’s meant to do is make it a pathway for people who are worried about themselves or worried about someone else,” Catlin said.

When it comes to those who are struggling with suicidal thoughts, Catlin believes talking with a “live voice” may help.

“This is going to put the help numbers on the back of their IDs (which is) easier than walking through clinic doors,” said Catlin.

What this bill hopes to accomplish is an easier opportunity for those who need it to seek help; it may be hard or intimidating for some people to go to an in-person facility for help and being able to connect with someone over the phone may give students a chance to get help quickly before their situation worsens. 

According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Colorado had 1,302 suicides in 2020, making it the 12-highest state for suicide deaths in the U.S. The Colorado Health Institute website says that the suicide death rate for residents ages 15 to 19 has increased in the past decade.

“One of the things that happened during my campaign was people talking about the numbers of suicide in young people,” Catlin said.

“This was the chance to do something right away that might help. Sometimes we get bogged down trying to find the best way to help. We can do this right away (and) do it quickly. It doesn’t cost a lot of money but puts it (he information) in a lot of people’s hands.”

The CDC website also lists bullying as a relationship risk factor for suicide.

Local youth advocates also note that risk.

“We do recognize that a lot of young people who experience bullying also experience suicide ideation,” Joey Montoya Boese, executive director at PEER Kindness, said.

The nonprofit PEER Kindness was founded in 2015 under the name Before You Hate, Think of Cait, after Caitlyn Nell Haynes, a Montrose High School student who completed suicide in 2015. It was renamed PEER Kindness in 2016. Her parents have championed legislation aimed at reducing bullying and suicide rates and were instrumental in establishing Before You Hate, Think of Cait.

“Our organization really focuses on raising awareness and creating an environment where people are sensitive about bullying issues,” Montoya Boese said.

“ (We) do appreciate the legislators’ intentions with what our young people are facing,” she said, referring to Catlin’s new bill.

Montoya Boese has some advice for those seeking help, as well as advice for those who have been chosen to help someone suffering with suicidal ideation: “I encourage young people to reach out to Colorado crisis lines over the national (ones).”

She said national crisis lines, while they give tools to help, don’t understand “that local connection.” Furthermore, Montoya Boese said we need to create a system in which there is intervention with youths while they are experiencing the traumatic event — before they begin to have suicide ideation. Students who are being bullied need a support system revolving around empathy and open listening without being dismissive.

Montoya Boese emphasized just how important it is that young people are truly heard. “We have to just keep talking about the challenges that our young people are experiencing,” Montoya said.

The Higher Education Crisis And Suicide Prevention bill, HB 23-1007, was introduced to the House Jan. 9, and went through committee Feb. 1. It must clear the House and then proceed to the Senate.

Rhiannon Bergman is a staff writer for the Montrose Daily Press.