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.