juvenile detention fees: stone sign for juvenile court entrance with flowers in front

Study: With homicide the No. 1 cause, formerly incarcerated Ohio juveniles’ death rate was six to nine times higher than that of other youth

Death rates were 5.9 times higher for previously incarcerated 11- to 21-year-olds in Ohio than in that state’s general population of youth enrolled in Medicaid health insurance for low-income people, according to a study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association’s JAMA Open Network.

In a finding researchers said was especially startling, formerly incarcerated females died at nine times the rate of the general population.

“More than half of all deaths were among youths convicted of crimes against persons,”  wrote the researchers, who examined 3,645 formerly incarcerated youth. “More deaths occurred in youths who were incarcerated for the first time and in youths who spent less than or equal to [one] year in custody.”

gun suicides among youth report: gun hidden in clothes drawer

Half of suicides were by gun; suicides by all methods rose sharply among minority youth

With suicides, including those by gun, the second-leading cause of death for 10- through 34-year-olds — and suicides surging by 35% during 20 years ending in 2019 — it’s important to raise awareness that suicides are preventable and that most of those survive an attempt do not try another.

That’s according to the Convergence Center for Policy Resolution, whose early December report, “Convergence Dialogue on Guns and Suicide Prevention,” highlights interventions, including safe gun storage and efforts to safeguard the mental health of young people and others who may be suicidal.

suicide: Teenager with a picture of a gun superimposed on his head

Opinion: How To Address The Growing Crisis Of Youth Firearm Suicide

Suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people in the United States. More children and teens die by suicide than the next eight leading causes of death. Firearm suicide in particular is a growing crisis impacting young people: Every year nearly 3,000 young people die by firearm suicide. The rate of firearm suicide among youth ages 5 to 19 has increased 82% in the last decade. While suicide rates are increasing most among young people ages 10 to 19, researchers are noting a troubling trend of suicide among children as young as 5 years old. 

The coronavirus pandemic has upended life as we know it, disrupting normal routines and cutting off access to many support networks.