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3w ago

Most States Lack Dedicated Suicide Prevention Offices as Federal Support Shrinks

U.S. health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to fold SAMHSA into an Administration for a Healthy America after steep staffing and funding reductions

Telephone calls, mail, and e-mail | Avg. hours spent per day, all people: 13 minutes - Change from 2019: 4 more minutes - Avg. hours spent per day, people who use telephone calls, mail, and e-mail: 1 hour 2 minutes - #19 highest out of 22 activities - Avg. share of people who engage in activity per day: 21.1% - #12 highest out of 22 activities (anyaberkut/Getty Images)

Overview

  • An ASTHO/CDC report finds only 12 states have suicide prevention offices or coordinators established by law.
  • Just 11 states have laws mandating task forces or committees dedicated to suicide prevention.
  • About 60% of states and Washington, D.C., maintain fatality review committees that include suicide deaths, and another 11 states assign those duties to existing health offices.
  • SAMHSA has faced significant staff and budget cuts, the federal government ended specialized LGBTQ+ support on the 988 hotline and plans are under way to merge the agency into a new health administration.
  • The report emphasizes that targeting at-risk groups—rural residents, older adults, American Indian and Alaska Native populations, people with disabilities, veterans and sexual minorities—is key to effective suicide prevention.