Large nonprofit urges public to back bill creating Office of Suicide Prevention

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The nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness is urging First Staters to contact their legislators to back an Office of Suicide Prevention.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) – Delaware branch released a notice Monday night encouraging the public to support House Bill 54, sponsored by Rep. Eric Morrison, D-Glasgow, that would establish the office.

The bill would have a fiscal impact on the state of $78,681 in fiscal year 2026, $107,007 in fiscal year 2027, and $109,147 in fiscal year 2028. The money is primarily for funding positions.

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“Thank you for your continued support for mental health, suicide prevention, and intervention in Delaware,” NAMI Delaware said in a statement. “Now is the time to advocate for House Bill 54 (HB54), which seeks to establish an Office of Suicide Prevention in our state.”

The group wants community members to submit written comments at least 24 hours before the bill is heard in committee to HouseCommitteeComment@delaware.go for the House committee or SenateHealthSocialServices@delaware.gov for the Senate committee.

The bill has been assigned to the House Health & Human Development Committee at the beginning of March, and the first discussion of it will be held in that committee’s meeting Wednesday, March 19 at 11:30 a.m. Watch that hearing here.

Suicide stats in First State

Although any suicide is one too many, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data shows the Delaware has the ninth lowest suicide rate in the country, with 11.4 suicides for every 100,000 people. While Washington D.C. is counted as the lowest suicide rate at 6.1, the state with the lowest rate is New Jersey at 7.7.

Montana is the state with the highest suicide rate of 28.7 per 100,000 people.

NAMI stated they’ve prepared resources for advocates to use, including easy-to-use talking points, two sample support letters, fast facts about suicide prevention, and guidelines for safe and responsible messaging.

Find out more here.

The Office of Suicide Prevention would:

• Serve in coordination with the Department of Services for Children, Youth and their Families as a place to reach all suicide prevention resources in the State.
• Assist the suicide prevention coalition in its mission.
• Provide suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention vision and guidance to stakeholders throughout the State.
• Work with community level prevention organizations to promote best practices in suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention.
• Oversee suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention funding application processes and seek grant funds to further suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention.
• Prepare an annual report for the General Assembly and Governor that outlines the work of the Office and progress made towards suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention, beginning on Oct. 15, 2026.
• Create the State’s Suicide Prevention Plan, with approval of the suicide prevention coalition, and update it no fewer than every three years.