NC child homicide and suicide rates have doubled in past 10 years, report shows
Homicide and suicide rates among North Carolina children have more than doubled over the past decade, and homicide was the leading cause of death among children from age 1 to 17 in 2020, a report released Monday shows.
The report, released annually by the Child Fatality Task Force, showed that most causes of death among children in the state held relatively steady from 2011 through 2020, the most recent year for which figures are available. But it found that in 2020, 79 children between the ages of 1 and 17 died as a result of homicide, making it the leading cause of death for that age group. It was the second-leading cause of death among children aged 1 to 4.
Also in 2020, suicide was the fourth leading cause of death for children aged 1 to 17, claiming 56 children. Among children aged 10 to 14, it was the leading cause of death. Self-inflicted injuries resulted in almost 550 hospitalizations and more than 2,700 emergency department visits in the state in 2020, the report said.
Another 13 N.C. children under the age of 1 year died as a result of homicide in 2020, according to the report.
That means that in 2020, 4 children per 100,000 children in the state died as a result of homicide, compared to 1.9 in 2011. In 2020, 2.4 deaths per 100,000 children were suicides, compared to 1 per 100,000 in 2011.
In the report, the task force renews its call for the state to increase funding for programs targeted at reducing child fatalities, including educating people about infant sleep safety, firearm safety and improving maternal and infant health, especially among minorities.
North Carolina’s infant mortality rate
A letter signed by the task force’s chair, Karen McLeod, and executive director, Kella Hatcher, accompanying the report expressed some frustration that North Carolina still has the 8th-highest infant-mortality rate in the country and that both it and the child death rate increased slightly in 2020. Infant deaths accounted for 63% of all child deaths in the state in 2020.
The report noted the state continues to see racial disparities in infant mortality rates, with the rate for Black infants more than 2.5 times that of white infants. Prematurity, low birth weight, birth defects and maternal complications are the leading causes of infant death.
“This year’s submission of the annual report of the Child Fatality Task Force comes to you with optimism and hope in knowing that the evidence-driven recommendations being made by the Task Force for 2022, if they advance, really can save children’s lives.,” the letter said. “There is also a sense of sadness in the realization that North Carolina has missed opportunities to prevent child deaths in our state as many of these recommendations are being repeated from prior years because they did not fully advance.”
In 2020, the report says, 1,279 children from birth to 17 years old died in the state, a rate of 55.5 children per 100,000. That’s down from a rate of 107.6 per 100,000 in 1991, but the rate has not changed much in the past decade.
Rate of child death by firearm in NC outpaces US
However, there has been some shifting in the predominate causes of child death at different ages.
The report lists seven main causes of death: birth defects, perinatal conditions, illnesses, motor vehicle accidents, other unintentional injuries, homicide and suicide.
In the decade from 2011 to 2020, the rates of child death from birth defects, perinatal conditions, illness and motor vehicle accidents all declined slightly. Child deaths attributed to other unintentional injuries rose slightly. Those resulting from homicide or suicide significantly increased.
Firearms figured heavily in both child homicides and suicides in North Carolina, the report found: they were used in 55% of youth suicides and 73% of homicides in 2020.. The rate of child deaths by firearm was the same in the state as for the nation as a whole in 2011 — 1.8 per 100,000 children — but by 2020, the rate in North Carolina was 4.7, compared to 3.1 for the U.S. as a whole.
“From 2011 to 2020, there were over 525 child deaths due to firearm-related injuries to North Carolina children ages 17 and younger,” the report said. “In 2020 alone there were 105 firearm-related deaths, almost 200 firearm-related hospitalizations, and over 435 firearm-related emergency department visits for North Carolina children.“
Resources urged for suicide prevention
The report also noted that suicidal behavior by high school students has been trending upward, and is most pronounced among youth who identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual.
In 2019, the most recent figures available, 44% of high school students surveyed said they had seriously considered attempting suicide in the previous 12 months, compared to 16% of students identifying as heterosexual. Among LGBTQ high school students, 22% said they had actually attempted suicide, compared to 8% of heterosexual students.
In addition to other measures, the task force said North Carolina must put resources toward addressing the youth mental health crisis, including providing support in schools.
The Trevor Project is a national organization geared toward preventing suicide and crisis intervention for LGBTQ young people. If you or someone you know needs help, call or text the Trevor Project through its website or call 1-866-488-7386. Counselors are available 24/7.
Help is also available from the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-8255.
The N.C. chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness has an information and referral service helpline that can be reached Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 1-800-451-9682. You may also contact the NAMI crisis line by texting “NAMI” to 741741.
This story was originally published May 9, 2022 at 1:26 PM.
