Kodiak father asks borough assembly to take up suicide prevention every month

Ryan Sharratt asked the Kodiak Island Borough Assembly on Thursday to make mental health and suicide prevention a standing item on its agenda, discussed every month.

"I'm standing before you because 408 days ago my son took his own life," he said during public comment.

Sharratt said he has sat with nine children this year who had thought about suicide. "Those conversations stay with me, and they're why I am here tonight," he said.

He asked the assembly to bring providers, schools, businesses and community groups together, to hear regular reports from the Kodiak Area Native Association, Providence and other providers, and to include young people and families. The borough's code already recognizes a mental health role, he said.

The assembly took no action. In closing comments, one assembly member said it "kind of broke my heart" to see Sharratt there and urged residents to "look out for your youth."

Statewide, Alaska's youth suicide death rate in 2025 was the highest in 10 years, the state Department of Health reported in an August bulletin. Over the decade, the rate among Alaskans ages 10 to 18 was nearly six times the national average, the department said. From 2016 through 2025, the department counted 174 youth suicide deaths and 4,101 attempts.

Closer to home, Sharratt cited Kodiak's 2025 Community Health Survey. He said one in four people who responded reported that they or a family member needed mental health services, and nearly half of them couldn't get care. Of those, 45% cited privacy concerns. "Small town, big problems," he said.

Sharratt recently launched whathappentomorrow.org, a free site he said connects young people, families and veterans with mental health education and help. He said he's working toward Enough is Enough Alaska Live, a free community forum in Kodiak planned for February, with a proposed statewide livestream.

Kodiak's school board has taken up the issue, too. In October, it voted unanimously to back a Kodiak student's resolution calling for every Alaska middle and high school to run a student-led mental health or suicide prevention program.

Anyone thinking about suicide, or worried about someone else, can call, text or chat 988, the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.