44th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2000

RELATING TO PUBLIC HEALTH; IMPLEMENTING YOUTH SUICIDE PREVENTION STRATEGIES; MAKING AN APPROPRIATION.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

Section 1. YOUTH SUICIDE PREVENTION PROGRAMS.--The department of health shall implement youth suicide best practice prevention strategies in conformance with the department's suicide prevention plan recommendations. The youth suicide prevention strategies shall be implemented in the public schools, juvenile detention facilities, public post-secondary educational institutions and programs serving out-of-school youth. Implementation of such strategies shall include the enhancement of current twenty-four-hour-per-day toll-free hotlines for youth crisis intervention, additional depression screening tools, assurance of appropriate emergency assistance response and an active mental health referral process for the person in need, suicide prevention education and training of adult and youth gatekeepers to recognize and respond to suicide warning signs.

Section 2. APPROPRIATION.--Two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) is appropriated from the general fund to the department of health for expenditure in fiscal years 2001 and 2002 for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the department's youth suicide prevention strategies. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of the fiscal year 2002 shall revert to the general fund.