The Rise of Teen Suicide: What you Need to Know about Youth in Foster Care and Suicide
Jacob Doriety celebrating his 16th birthday with a cake from one of his caseworkers.
17 year old Jacob Doriety had been in the Oregon foster care system as an infant. During his time, he had been in more than 50 foster homes and other facilities. For much of 2024, he had resided in an Oregon hotel room while under the supervision of state Department of Human Services case workers and contractors, all on a rotating shift schedule throughout a daily 24 hour period. Struggling with unaddressed psychological trauma throughout his life, Jacob committed suicide.
Sadly, Jacob is not the only youth in foster care to end his life. In 2023, a 15-year-old took his own life in October while in a Kansas foster care agency. In 2020, a 17 year old girl in Utah’s foster care system killed herself. In 2017, 14 year old Nakia Venant from Florida broadcast live from the bathroom of the foster home she was living in, streaming as she fashioned a homemade noose from her scarf. The broadcast ended as she hung herself from a shower glass door frame.
12-year-old Katelyn Nicole Davis from Georgia also committed suicide, in 2016, stating that she had suffered from physical and sexual abuse by a family member, this time streaming it live on the site Live.Me. Just ten days before that, on Dec. 20, 2016, 16 year old Lauryn Martin fashioned a blue scarf into a noose and hanged herself in the doorway at a Florida Keys youth shelter.
How prevalent is teen suicide? Shockingly, suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds in the United States. At least 90% of teens who kill themselves, according to a study by The American Academy of Pediatrics, have some type of mental health problem. This may include alcohol or drug abuse, anxiety, behavior problems, and depression. Indeed, these troubled youth also often have challenges and problems at school or with friends or family. For some, it is a combination of both Furthermore, many of those teens that do commit suicide were victims of physical or sexual abuse.
To be sure, these are all issues that children in foster care face and struggle with on a daily basis. Foster care youth are 3x more likely to significantly consider suicide, 4x more likely to have made a suicide attempt in the past 12 months and 5x more likely to be hospitalized following a suicide attempt when compared to non-foster care youth. As noted in The Imprint, one study of more than 700 California 17-year-olds in foster care, 41% reported they had thought about death by suicide and nearly one-quarter had attempted it.Youth involved in the child welfare system experience higher rates of mental illness and substance use as well.
In general, suicide attempt by teens during the Covid Lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 has risen dramatically, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Girls between the ages of 12 to 17 were found to have tried to attempt suicide increased by roughly 51% in early 2021 than the same time frame in 2019, pre-Covid. In addition, boys in the same age group had a 4% increase of suicide attempts, as well.
The CDC study indicated that the rise of suicide attempt in teens might be attributed to a “lack of connectedness to schools, teachers and peers” due to physical distancing measures, “barriers to health treatment,” “increases in substance abuse” and anxiety related to “family health and economic problems.” In addition, the rise of child abuse for children and teens during Covid is also a factor.
For many of today’s teens, social media is an outlet they are turning to as they consider suicide. Perhaps one of the most disturbing trends online is that of the pro suicide sites that can easily be found on the internet. These sites offer suggestions on how to commit suicide, or as one site put it, “to find the final exit”. Online users can find suggestions on how to kill themselves while asleep, in front of others, in the privacy of a bedroom, or even through the use of over the counter medication. For those children who are suffering through great bouts of depression, these sites offer advice and suggestions from “pro suicide experts,” as well as from others who try to encourage the depressed victims to end their lives. Adding additional confusion to these potential victims is the fact the many of these sites suggest that suicide is a positive solution to their problems, or even a spiritual release to their pain and struggle. For a child looking for help or encouragement, this type of encouragement may be the answer they are looking for.
For those teens who are considering suicide, it is important to recognize the warning signs. Many times, youth who are contemplating suicide will often talk about the act, or about death, in general. Along with this, they may also talk about feelings of hopelessness. They may suggest to others that they may not be around much longer, through talking with others, in letters, poems, or even music. During this time, those youth thinking about suicide may also begin to isolate themselves from both friends and family, and even begin to give away important possessions of theirs to others. There is often a loss of interest in school, sports, and family activities. Others may begin to show signs of changes in their normal eating and sleeping behaviors, while others may begin to take part in risky or dangerous behaviors.
There are children who feel as if there is nowhere to turn to. For those looking for help or for more information, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and the Crisis Text Line.
Dr. John DeGarmo is an international expert in parenting and foster care and is a TEDx Talk presenter. Dr. John is the founder and director of The Foster Care Institute. He and his wife have had over 60 children come through their home as foster parents. He is an international consultant to schools, legal firms, and foster care agencies, as well as an empowerment and transformational speaker and trainer for schools, child welfare, businesses, and non profit organizations. He is the author of several foster care books, including The Foster Parenting Manual, and writes for several publications. Dr. John has appeared on CNN HLN, Good Morning, America, and NBC, FOX, CBS, and PBS stations across the nation. He and his wife have received many awards, including the Good Morning America Ultimate Hero Award. He can be contacted at drjohndegarmo@gmail, through his Facebook page, Dr. John DeGarmo, or at The Foster Care Institute.
