(a) The General Assembly finds that:

(1) Five hundred sixteen (516) Arkansans died by suicide in 2013, making suicide the leading cause of injury death in Arkansas and suicide is an urgent and serious public health and welfare problem in the state;

(2) Arkansas needs a comprehensive and coordinated approach to prevent suicide across all age and demographic groups in all areas of the state and to ensure that suicide prevention becomes a shared priority for all citizens;

(3) Statewide coordination of suicide prevention efforts is necessary to ensure high levels of collaborative leadership, effectiveness, and continuous improvement;

(4) An effective, evidence-based strategy is necessary to increase knowledge about and access to suicide prevention, intervention, and postintervention resources for all Arkansans;

(5) Intentional leadership, survivor input, and capacity-building, policy development, and alignment of services for high-risk sectors are needed;

(6) A seamless system of support and follow-up coordination for suicide attempt survivors and situationally high-risk individuals is needed;

(7) The rate of suicide in Arkansas is presently outpacing the nation and increasing year to year; and

(8) The absence of a suicide prevention program authority in Arkansas is a major threat to public health and welfare.

(b) It is the intent of the General Assembly that the Injury Prevention Section of the Injury Prevention and Control Branch of the Department of Health be designated the program authority to receive and solicit funding as appropriate to provide adequate funding in support of an effective and staffed statewide suicide prevention program.