Alaska has one of the nation's highest suicide rates but lacks the staff to apply for "numerous" grants that could help address the problem, according to a new report.
Also, the number of state grants going to Alaska villages -- including in Western Alaska where suicide rates are highest -- has fallen sharply in recent years. The communities often don't have enough manpower to administer today's awards, the report said.
Meanwhile, dozens of Alaska Natives lined up on Tuesday in Anchorage to outline the devastating reach of suicide in their regions.
They spoke to federal officials at an unprecedented "listening session" on the topic, one of several nationwide that stemmed from President Obama's effort to enhance tribal-government relations.
Amid heartbreaking stories of dead loved ones, they said prevention starts with parents in homes and villages. But they also called for more federal and state support to provide the counselors and programs to help break the cycle.
Not enough
Alaska's in the throes of another wave of suicides, a plague unheard of until recent decades, some speakers said.
"Many children, mothers and grandmothers are crying today as we speak at this meeting," said Kathleen Peters-Zurdy, executive director of the Tanana tribal government.
Six people took their lives in her Interior region in the last six weeks or so, she said.
Speakers blamed the deaths on long-recognized factors such as family violence, heavy drinking, rapid social change and historical trauma.
"We need to declare war" to stop the domestic violence, alcoholism, drug abuse and suicides, said James Sipary Sr.
The Toksook Bay man said he organized three prevention meetings for Nelson Island communities in Southwest Alaska after a string of suicides about five years ago.
In 2007, one of his sons hung himself, leaving an emotionally wounded family, Sipary said.
This year, at least 30 Alaskans took their lives between Sept. 19 and Oct. 19, a pace that outstrips Alaska's already sad averages, said Chanda Aloysius, vice president of Behavioral Services at Anchorage-based Southcentral Foundation.
The tribally run health care system spends about $1 million annually on a suicide prevention program called Denaa Yeets' -- Athabascan for Our Breath of Life -- with much of the money coming from federal grants.
"That's a drop in the bucket compared to what's needed," she said.
The organization has churned out about 100 newly minted responders trained in prevention, intervention and crisis control, but they're not enough to handle the demand in Southcentral's Cook Inlet region and additional rural communities that also want help.
"We are over our head constantly with requests," she said.
Additional grants could help Southcentral reach more villages by training new responders, blanketing statewide media with prevention ads and bringing more rural residents to Anchorage for an intense, weeklong healing program.
Future grants need to be more sustainable too, with awards lasting several years and not just one or two years as they often have in the past, Aloysius said.
Missed opportunity
The state, tribal groups and others are missing out on several federal and foundation grants, plus other funding sources, said the legislative research report.
The report is based largely on a review of suicide-prevention grants awarded by the state since 2000.
The Statewide Suicide Prevention Council conducted that review and pulled other information for the report, said Kate Burkhart, the group's executive director.
In a quick search of a federal online funding site, she found 20 unused suicide grants that the state, tribes and local entities are eligible for, the report said.
Other foundation grants not fully used in Alaska include the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the Suicide Prevention Partnership, and the Johnson Family Foundation.
"The largest impediment to accessing these additional prevention resources is limited staffing levels at both the state and tribal levels," the report said.
Applying for the grants can be demanding and complicated. Time-strapped state, tribal and city entities naturally focus on "providing direct services over seeking grants," the report said.
Until this summer, the suicide prevention council had only part-time staff. Now they have one full-time employee. Also, the Division of Behavioral Health has one full time employee to work on suicide prevention.
"Therefore, there is currently limited capacity within the DBH or the Council for seeking and applying for, and then overseeing, additional federal or foundation grants," the report found.
The total amount of federal grants going directly to tribes for suicide-prevention is unknown, in part because they are difficult to track.
The report notes that 17 large tribal organizations, such as Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. based in Bethel -- which serves 56 villages -- split $5 million over three years from the Methamphetamines Suicide Prevention Initiative.
The grant, offered by the Indian Health Service, may not continue next year, the report notes.
Another federal grant providing $1.5 million a year for youth-suicide prevention went to three organizations including Maniilaq, which provides social services to a dozen communities in the Kotzebue region.
Villages lose out on state awards
For years, Alaskans have killed themselves at a rate that's roughly twice the national average.
In 2008, 167 Alaskans took their own lives, a record. The number dropped to 140 last year, still one of the busiest years in history.
The crisis is especially acute among Alaska Natives and rural regions. For nine years starting in 2000, rates in Western Alaska were six to seven times the national average.
But the report shows state-suicide prevention funding has dropped steeply in Western Alaska. Meanwhile, it's risen in regions with the smallest suicide rates.
In 2003, 55 entities split nearly $800,000 state awards. Nearly all the recipients were tribes and villages. They used the money for such things as cultural camps to instill traditional values or suicide-prevention meetings that brought experts to their communities.
Fast forward to 2009. Twenty entities split $1.6 million.
The largest awards went to organizations based in Southcentral, Southeast and the Interior, regions with the state's smallest suicide rates.
• $375,000 went to Central Peninsula General Hospital in Kenai.
• $280,000 to Big Brothers and Big Sisters, for the Fairbanks, Juneau and Sitka communities.
• $142,000 to the Juneau-based Association of Alaska School Boards.
• $132,000 to Mat-Su Health Services in Palmer and Wasilla.
• $120,000 to Fairbanks Counseling and Adoption received.
Two school districts in Western Alaska received awards. The Yupiit School District in Akiak, serving students in three Southwest Alaska villages, received $17,000. The Iditarod School District in McGrath, serving students in seven villages, received $44,000.
Only six of the 2009 state grants -- between $7,000 and $45,000 -- went to villages.
The change came about because of a move by the Department of Health and Social Services in 2003 that combined two divisions -- mental health and drug and alcohol -- into the Behavioral Health Division, the report notes.
It led to increased requirements for grant winners, including more planning, management and reporting.
Smaller entities didn't have the manpower to compete for the awards, so grants increasingly went to larger regional Native organizations and other groups.
Resources misapplied
Rep. Bob Herron, D-Bethel, requested the report after several young people, mostly males, took their lives in his Southwest Alaska District this year.
The findings are "sobering," he said. It indicates that suicide-prevention money isn't heading to areas that need it most.
"The input from people in my region and others is we have got to figure out how we can make a shift in the delivery of suicide prevention dollars and programs," he said.
The report is a starting point, he said. He'll work with legislators, the Division of Behavioral Health, federal agencies and others to determine how to increase the money for villages.
"There is a need for immediate triage so we'll try to figure this out," he said. "I look forward to working with anyone who's interested in changing the delivery system."
Burkhart said the council is currently reviewing how the change in funding has affected suicide rates. From there, the council can recommend whether the old system should be restored.
The recommendations should come in the group's annual report, which should be published by the end of the year.
It's important to note, she said, that small villages may have high rates after just one or two suicides, but the sheer numbers are higher in cities.
"People see Anchorage has lower rates, so they think it must not be as bad," she said.
That's not always the case.
The good news is that suicide awareness has reached a high point this year, she said. More than one listening session has been held on the topic and many people are openly talking about a subject that was once taboo.
Also, the state's 11-member council is meeting regularly, including to remote areas, and more people are aware of crisis intervention programs like Careline (877-266-4357).
As for Tuesday's listening session, it was the fourth in a series sponsored the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Indian Health Service, and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The sessions will culminate in a national suicide prevention conference planned for early next year.
Speakers at the Anchorage session clearly wanted locally based solutions and sustainable and flexible funding mechanisms, said Michalyn Steele, counselor to Larry Echohawk, assistant secretary for Indian Affairs.
"That's the message I will take back to Mr. Echohawk," she said.
This story is posted with permission from Alaska Newspapers Inc., which publishes six weekly community newspapers, a statewide shopper, a statewide magazine and slate of special publications that supplement our products year-round. Reporter Alex DeMarban can be reached at alex@alaskanewspapers.com, or by phone at (907) 348-2444.