States increase funding for suicide prevention services
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Researchers at NYU School of Global Public Health discovered that state funding for suicide prevention and mental health crisis services across the United States has risen in the last five years.
The study, examining budgets from 2021 to 2026, revealed an average increase in spending from $1.05 to $6.55 per resident. States also increased the portion of their annual budgets dedicated to these services, growing from 0.022% to 0.079%.
The research team found that states implementing small fees on monthly phone bills, similar to how 911 services are funded, allocated significantly more money to suicide prevention. These states spent twice as much as those relying on general budget funds. Spending varied regionally, with Western states investing the most per person and Midwestern states investing the least. However, the study noted that higher suicide rates within a state did not always correlate with greater financial investment in prevention.
Researchers also cautioned that their findings likely underestimate total state spending, as many budgets don’t specifically itemize funding for suicide prevention programs. The team is now investigating whether increased funding actually leads to a reduction in suicide deaths, and whether telecom fees are an effective policy solution.
