Report: North Carolina youth suicides double since 2010

RALEIGH, NC (AP) – Child safety advocates in North Carolina are worried because youth suicides have doubled since the start of the decade and increased by more than one-third between 2013 and 2014.

The North Carolina Child Fatality Task Force released details Monday about the state’s child death rate. The task force says 46 children died by suicide last year, compared to 34 the year before and 23 in 2010.

The task force makes recommendations to the General Assembly. A panel committee will have a special meeting on suicide in February.

The overall child death rate for 2014 was about 58 deaths per 100,000 children. It’ has been relatively steady since 2010.

The child death date has fallen 46 percent since 1991, when the task force was formed.

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