Decatur, GA – After 14 children took their own lives in the past two months alone, the Georgia Child Fatality Review (GCFR) Program’s initiative to train in this area has new urgency.  GCFR, in partnership with the Georgia Department of Education and the Georgia Department of Public Health, conducted a series of Suicide Prevention Summits for school personnel.  The sessions took place in Macon, Rome, Gainesville, and in Gwinnett County.  Each summit was held at a site which met the criteria of having suicides of children under 18 years old reported for three consecutive years.

Over 200 Department of Education professionals were provided with child death data on youth suicide and given suicide prevention training.  Participants were also given resources and tips on dealing with a suicide death should one occur in their school.  More programs are planned in September 2017 for other locations throughout the state.

In order to raise awareness about this issue, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and GCFR have initiated a new protocol to notify local school boards if one of their students commits suicide.  This notification is an effort to involve teachers, administrators, students, support personnel, caregivers, and community volunteers in dealing with and preventing future self-inflicted deaths.

The main purpose of the GCFR program is to prevent deaths.  The mission of GCFR is to serve Georgia’s children by promoting more accurate identification and reporting of child fatalities, evaluating the prevalence and circumstances of both child abuse cases and child fatality investigations, and monitoring the implementation and impact of the statewide child injury prevention plan to prevent and reduce incidents of child abuse and fatalities in the state.  

Trebor Randle - Special Agent in Charge | GBI - Decatur | 404/693-4717