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Public commenter urges Overland Park council to act on rising youth suicide
Summary
A local resident testified that Johnson County’s youth suicide rate has risen sharply and urged the council to adopt new approaches after reporting dozens of school risk assessments; she called existing programs insufficient to reach root causes.
Sloka Ghani, a resident who spoke during the open public comment period, told the Overland Park City Council that youth suicide is an urgent local problem and urged immediate action.
Ghani said Johnson County’s suicide rate is 15.7 and has risen nearly 63% since 2005, with most deaths occurring among people aged 10 to 24. "We need a change," she said, adding that Blue Valley schools performed 282 suicide risk assessments last school year and that current resources "brush over the surface" rather than address root causes such as stigma and harsh expectations.
The comment came during the council’s public comment period and was not followed by formal council action; Ghani urged council members to help change the pattern so the trend does not continue to worsen.
