Kern County’s Behavioral Health and Recovery Services is being joined by other local agencies in a new, Zero Suicide Initiative. Alexis Shaw with the Kern County Network for Children says there’s concern about the rising rate of suicides among young people, especially girls, but it’s a multi-level approach. “They’re going to also be working with veterans, they’re going to be working with hospitals, they’re going to be working with primary care providers, so this is actually an eight-year implementation.” A recent Stanford study links the rising rates of depression and suicides among young people to heavy cellphone use and social media, although there are other factors as well.

Suzanne Grant