Teen Death Sparks Lisle Leaders To Take Action, Make Coalition

LISLE, IL — Lisle, Downers Grove and Naperville townships have created a coalition to help teens and take action against suicide. Daily Herald reported Lisle-area officials created the Youth in Crisis Coalition, after a town high school student took their own life last fall, adding that although the student wasn't the first from his school to die that way, this case forced leaders to take action.

The coalition meets every month to put together and share the resources available to teens, and is also bringing together mental-health professionals from schools, the county health department, counseling services, and nonprofit organizations to understand how each group can help teens with mental crises and get healthy, the news report said.

The coalition's end goal is a youth population with zero self-inflicted deaths. But its more immediate aim is to "disrupt the journey to suicide," Daily Herald reported Sarah Breithaupt, director of youth and family services for Lisle Township, said.

Dupage County Coroner Rich Jorgensen's office said there have been two teen deaths this year, adding to a total of roughly 28 in the past five years, Daily Herald reported, adding that there have been several throughout the last few years in nearby counties.

Patch reports there are seven crisis centers throughout Illinois that are members of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

Anyone struggling with mental health can get help by calling National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or visiting suicidepreventionlifeline.org.

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