If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting “988.”
Elliott Hinkle experienced depression and suicidal thoughts even before entering the foster care system in Casper, Wyoming, at age 15.
At the time, Hinkle, who is transgender, struggled with their sexual identity and gender issues, and their difficulties continued in foster care. They felt like they had no one to confide in — not their foster parents, not church leaders, not their caseworker.
“To my knowledge, I don’t remember ever taking a suicide screening,” Hinkle said. “No one ever said: ‘Are you having thoughts of taking your life? Do you feel hopeless?’”
With their psychological and behavioral health needs left unaddressed, Hinkle’s depression and suicidal thoughts worsened.
“Do I stay in the closet and feel terrible and want to end my life?” Hinkle said. “Or do I come out and lose all my supports, which also feels dangerous?”
Children in foster care are significantly more likely to have mental health issues, researchers say. They attempt or complete suicide at rates three to four times that of youths in the general population, according to several studies.
LGBTQ+ people in foster care, like Hinkle, are at an even higher risk of having suicidal thoughts.
Elliott Hinkle struggled with mental health issues as a teenager in the Wyoming foster care system, falling into systemic gaps experts say affect many children and young adults in the system.(Paige Andersen)
Yet des …