Jessica Seaman

Suspensions jump as teachers increasingly use discipline to deal with students’ mental health and behavioral issues.

State attorney general for first time provides more detailed data on what happens after anonymous tips are made.

A group of Denver Post journalists led by health reporter Jessica Seaman spent much of the last year immersed in the subject of teen mental health and suicide, and today the paper is publishing the results of that project.

“One of the real advantages that we think that we provide is the reduction of law enforcement response,” said Diana Schmidt, manager of Safe2Help Nebraska. “It’s like a whole safety net as opposed to sending law enforcement, (which) is always a last resort for us.”

The Denver Post finds that a lack of data collection and a state law restricting the release of information mean there’s little public accountability about what happens after authorities respond to crisis line tips.

The number of suicides among young Coloradans remains unchanged during the coronavirus pandemic compared to previous years, but school and health officials expect to soon see a “tsunami of need” for mental health care.

This poem was selected as the winner of The Denver Post’s teen essay contest as part of an ongoing Crisis Point project on youth suicide in Colorado. The middle-school students wrote about the loss of mutual friend who died by suicide last year.

This essay was awarded an honorable mention in The Denver Post’s teen essay contest as part of an ongoing Crisis Point project on youth suicide in Colorado.