The development of the South Dakota Strategy for Suicide Prevention began in Chamberlain in June 2002 when the two of us, representing the Front Porch Coalition and the HELP!Line Center, met informally with Denise White, then Adolescent Health Coordinator for the SD Department of Health, to explore how the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (NSSP) might be implemented in South Dakota. Afterward, a group of stakeholders was invited to a gathering set for November 2002, where the NSSP was introduced, comprehensive data on suicide in South Dakota were presented, and those in attendance were asked if they would be interested in forming an ad hoc, public-private body to develop the South Dakota Strategy for Suicide Prevention (SDSSP). That group, and those who joined it as the process unfolded, became the SDSSP Workgroup. We are deeply grateful to each Workgroup member for their contributions to setting suicide prevention apart in South Dakota as a public health problem that merits a vigorous, comprehensive, statewide solution.
Between November 2002 and a meeting in May 2004, the Workgroup met numerous times in Pierre, Sioux Falls, and Chamberlain and also worked remotely through the Dakota Digital Network, e-mail, and conference calls. Judith Kahn of the Konopka Institute, University of Minnesota, facilitated the main sessions where the goals and objectives were formulated. In October 2003, 10 members of the Workgroup received technical assistance on the development of the SDSSP at a conference in Denver, CO., supported by the Suicide Prevention Resource Center, Newton, Mass., and the Region VIII office of the Public Health Service, Denver (SPRC and PHS Region VIII staff also provided technical assistance for a key Workgroup session in Sioux Falls in June 2003).
Although we organized, revised, and edited the final document, the South Dakota Strategy for Suicide Prevention reflects the substance and the spirit of those meetings, and the Workgroup is its author.
In early 2003 - during the 78th Legislative Session of the South Dakota Legislature - Senate Concurrent Resolution 5, sponsored by Sen. Arlene Ham-Burr and Rep. Stan Adelstein and co-sponsored by 27 additional legislators, unanimously passed both houses of the legislature. It declares that "the prevention of suicide be made a state priority by strengthening the private and public entities charged with addressing the problem" supports "the creation of a South Dakota plan for suicide prevention that will lay the groundwork for suicide prevention efforts...designed specifically for use in South Dakota's communities." The work of the legislature endowed the SDSSP Workgroup's efforts with the authority that comes from the consent of representative government, and we appreciate the vision of the resolution's sponsors and the support of the members of the South Dakota Senate and House.
Another key advance came in July 2003 when we met with South Dakota's Secretary of the Department of Health, Doneen Hollingsworth, and Secretary of the Department of Human Services, Betty Oldenkamp. In the ensuing months, their leadership
and committment of resources - and the diligent work of their staffs-strengthened the SDSSP Workgroup's capabilities and the power of its collective voice. Without their help, the South Dakota Strategy for Suicide Prevention would not be where it is today - positioned for implementation to begin - and we sincerely thank them.
Except for the federal funds that backed technical assistance for the Workgroup, the funding for the creation of the SDSSP came from the South Dakota Departments of Health and Human Services, a grant from Eli Lilly, and private donations supporting the HELP!Line Center and the Front Porch Coalition. The Workgroup was never officially organized or authorized or supervised by a government entity or anyone else, and it remained autonomous throughout the devleopment of the SDSSP - with all of its members volunteering their time and their agencies' resources to the effort. The energy for the creation of the SDSSP truly came from those who directly represent people who have been affected by suicide or who are working to prevent suicide, and the South Dakota Strategy for Suicide Prevention belongs not to the state or to any other entity or interest group, but instead to the people of South Dakota.
Most importantly, this document is not by any means the final word on suicide prevention in our state. The South Dakota Strategy for Suicide Prevention is designed as a catalyst and as a starting point from which to mount a fresh attack against what is arguable an epidemic of suicide in our communities. And its success at saving lives depends on how it is implemented, evaluated, funded and improved year after year in accordance with the wishes and the will of all South Dakotans - for, indeed, suicide prevention is everyone's business.
