Study: Youth With Child Welfare System Involvement Are at Elevated Risk for Suicide and May Benefit From Suicide Prevention Strategies Targeting Health Care Settings and Family-preservation

A new study has found that youth in the child welfare system who died by suicide were significantly more likely to experience out-of-home placements and to be diagnosed with mental and physical health conditions compared to controls. The study, “Health Services Use by Children in the Welfare System Who Died by Suicide,” which will be published in the April 2021 issue of Pediatrics (published online March 8), studied 1,320 young people ages 5 to 21 who died by suicide and who had an open case in Ohio’s child welfare system between 2010 and 2017. Controls were matched to suicide cases on sex, race, and ethnicity. The study found that 59.2% of the suicide decedents had at least one diagnosable mental health condition compared to 31.2% of controls. Many had seen a health care provider one to six months before their deaths. The findings suggest that youth involved in the child welfare system may benefit from suicide-prevention strategies in health care settings, and those focused on family preservation.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.