Prevention plan after deaths

Five years after four teenage girls from Flaxmere tragically took their own lives, a suicide prevention plan will be presented to the local council for endorsement.

The girls, 15-year-olds Lesha Ruben Ngatuere, Jahnaya Wikitoria Staples, Ebony Rose Karangaroa-McKenzie and Deichan Jarnika Teri Whaanga, all lived in the Hastings suburb, and died between July 2013 and August 2014.

Two went to Flaxmere College, one had recently left, and one was enrolled in an alternative education programme.

This week, five years on from the first death, Hastings District Council will be presented with the plan, which has a goal of zero regional suicides.

A suicide prevention coordinator employed by the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board following a recommendation from a coronial report into the girls’ suicides, led an interagency group tasked with creating the plan.

Suicide prevention plans are a requirement of DHBs.

Community feedback on how authorities could help reduce suicide and best enable people to manage life’s challenges highlighted a local need for heightened education, support for suicide survivors and wha¯nau, more events that raised suicide awareness and greater availability for free mental health services.

Flaxmere ward councillor Jacoby Poulain said the plan provided a ‘‘good stepping stone’’ for the community going forward.

Its endorsement would be a

mark of ‘‘moral support’’, and would lay the foundation for future financial support for projects that worked towards achieving the zero suicides goal.

Poulain said the coronial inquest recommended the creation of a wha¯ nau wellness centre in Flaxmere, which she would like to see developed.

‘‘A place where wha¯nau can come to get support for themselves and their families, and it’s visible and accessible.

‘‘That’s what I really think will help.’’

Councillor Henare O’Keefe, whose ward is also Flaxmere, said the plan’s goals could not be legislated.

‘‘You have to take a look at the peripherals, the first point of reference is the home ... and the usual cliches like poverty, poor housing,’’ he said.

‘‘[The plan’s] not fool-proof by any stretch of the imagination, it’s certainly not the silver bullet, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction,’’ O’Keefe said.

At the heart of preventing suicide was compassion, empathy, patience and tolerance, he said.

‘‘All those age-old qualities and values that we all know about ... It’s time to listen, to talk.’’

Hawke’s Bay District Health Board spokeswoman Julia Dohmen said council endorsement would provide stakeholders involved with a mandate.

‘‘There will be actions that will come out of the plan, should it be formally endorsed.

‘‘But these would be worked through and agreed upon with the group.’’

Poulain said local authorities had made progress in terms of coordination from a few years ago.

‘‘But all that is only worth something if you get some outcomes at the end.’’

The council’s community development committee will vote on the endorsement tomorrow.