‘Roadmap’ for Suicide Prevention Statewide
Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the release of the New York State Roadmap for Suicide Prevention to create a comprehensive approach to guide these efforts over the next five years. Issued on World Suicide Prevention Day, the roadmap includes three major initiatives—a statewide strategy with prevention goals and objectives, the Suicide Prevention Task Force Report with recommendations to reduce disparities for groups most at-risk, and an action plan laying out specific steps to advance these efforts.
“We know that suicide is preventable when New Yorkers who are at-risk or in crisis have the right support,” Governor Hochul said. “On World Suicide Prevention Day today, we are providing a bold approach for our state to provide necessary support to populations most at risk, embrace new prevention strategies, while monitoring our progress to ensure these efforts are effective.”
Under Governor Hochul’s leadership, the state has advanced a comprehensive, nation-leading agenda focused on strengthening youth mental health resources, suicide prevention efforts and keeping young New Yorkers safe online. These initiatives are part of roughly $2 billion she has invested into strengthening the mental health system statewide.
As part of these efforts, Governor Hochul championed New York’s nation leading law on AI companions, requiring operators to implement safety features and provide notifications to interrupt users who are engaging for sustained periods with these systems. AI companions are now required to detect and implement a safety protocol if a user expresses suicidal ideation or self harm—including referring them to a crisis center—and must notify and remind users that they are not interacting with a human for every three hours of continued use.
Additionally, as part of the FY 2027 Enacted Budget, the Governor included legislation designed to protect children from online predators, scammers and harmful AI chatbots integrated on online platforms. These changes were motivated by extensive reports of incidents where children have been left vulnerable to grooming, child abuse and exposure to violent and inappropriate content, including content that promotes suicide.
The Safe by Design Act now mandates platforms to automatically apply privacy-protective settings for children by default, meaning non-connections cannot message kids, view their profile or tag them in content. It also requires children’s location settings to be inaccessible by default to people they are not connected with and that children under 13 receive parental approval for new connections on online gaming platforms. It also disables integrated AI chatbots for children, institutes new financial protections relating to children’s expenditures on gaming websites and includes parental limits on a child’s financial transactions.
Ensuring the safety of children online and providing New Yorkers with the mental health support they need have consistently been among Governor Hochul’s top priorities. This roadmap will serve as a guide to strengthen New York’s suicide prevention efforts and further advance the Governor’s bold mental health agenda.
The roadmap features “1,700 Too Many: New York State’s Strategy for Suicide Prevention,” a five-year strategy that identifies how to strengthen the foundation of suicide prevention. Named in honor of the lives lost to suicide annually in New York, this document lays out five strategic directions, including enhancing data collection and monitoring; ensuring equitable access to care; amplifying support for communities with suicide disparities; expanding effective community-driven prevention efforts; and integrating prevention services into healthcare and improving access to services for those in crisis.
Also included are the findings of the Suicide Prevention Task Force, a 33-member body that included individuals with lived experience, advocates, subject matter experts and professionals serving high-risk populations, who were charged with examining disparities in suicide rates across the state and developing recommendations. The resulting report outlines seven priority areas for the state to address, including: reducing stigma; addressing social determinants of suicide; incorporating experts with lived experience in prevention efforts; expanding access to culturally responsive care; strengthening community-based approaches, including school-based and workplace initiatives; and enhancing data collection and use.
In addition, the roadmap includes the Comprehensive Action Plan for Suicide Prevention, which takes the goals laid out in the strategy and the recommendations from the Task Force Report to create 46 actionable items to be spearheaded by OMH, with defined metrics tracked over time to measure progress. This includes strengthening data and surveillance, expanding community engagement and stigma reduction, improving clinical and crisis care, ensuring equitable access and workforce diversity, and reducing barriers to care — especially within communities facing suicide disparities.
The action plan is responsive to Governor Hochul’s 2026 State of the State initiative, which charged OMH with helping other state agencies draft three-year action plans to raise awareness of certain risk suicide factors, including housing instability, financial insecurity and limited access to culturally responsive care. This initiative is rooted in the recognition that the drivers of suicide extend beyond mental health and are shaped by social determinants of health, which frequently intersect with work done by many state agencies.
Office of Mental Health Commissioner Dr. Ann Sullivan said, “During Suicide Prevention Month, we should remember that every life lost to suicide is a tragedy and all of us have a role to play in prevention. The roadmap is a comprehensive guide that will help us utilize data and recognize populations most at risk so we can more effectively focus prevention efforts across our state.”
State Senator Samra Brouk said, “As Chair of the Senate Mental Health Committee, I recognize that now, more than ever, prioritizing suicide prevention is a critical need in New York State. I applaud Governor Hochul for releasing New York State’s Roadmap for Suicide Prevention to identify and reduce disparities for our most vulnerable neighbors and improve access for individuals in crisis.”
Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon said, "It is vital that we embed in our conversations and dealings with others strong support for New Yorkers who are experiencing thoughts of suicide, so as to reduce suicidality and the need for crisis care. That is why I am grateful for Governor Hochul's announcement of the New York State Roadmap for Suicide Prevention, which will guide coordinated, long-term efforts to prevent suicide. Together with the Suicide Prevention Task Force, this roadmap will help improve crisis care, ensure equitable access to community-based supports and reduce the stigma surrounding suicide.”
Governor Hochul also issued a proclamation today recognizing September as Suicide Prevention Month in New York and outlined some of the initiatives that have made the state a national leader in reducing these tragic deaths. Additionally, to recognize prevention efforts and show solidarity with New Yorkers whose lives have been impacted by suicide, she also ordered 15 state landmarks and bridges to be illuminated in purple and teal at dusk today, Sept. 10, including:
- 1 World Trade Center
- Kosciuszko Bridge
- The H. Carl McCall SUNY Building
- State Education Building
- Alfred E. Smith State Office Building
- Empire State Plaza
- State Fairgrounds – Main Gate & Expo Center
- Niagara Falls
- The “Franklin D. Roosevelt” Mid-Hudson Bridge
- Grand Central Terminal - Pershing Square Viaduct
- Albany International Airport Gateway
- MTA LIRR - East End Gateway at Penn Station
- Fairport Lift Bridge over the Erie Canal
- Moynihan Train Hall
- Roosevelt Island Lighthouse
September is recognized in New York State as Suicide Prevention Month, which is aimed at promoting awareness, education and action to prevent suicide, honor the lives lost and to support survivors. Similarly, World Suicide Prevention Day focuses global attention on suicide prevention, uniting communities, organizations and governments with the shared belief that suicides are preventable.
New York had the second-lowest suicide rate in the nation in 2024, according to the latest data available from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, trailing behind only New Jersey among states. There were 1,701 deaths by suicide recorded in New York State in 2024.
The state’s 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is also among the most active in the nation, logging more than 52,000 calls in July alone –second only to California. The 988-Suicide and Crisis Lifeline has been one of Governor Hochul’s capstone mental health initiatives –enough so that she secured more than $60 million to fund the service, including through a robust public awareness campaign that is now entering its third year.
OMH also supports New Yorkers who have lost a family member or loved one via suicide through the Local Outreach to Suicide Survivors program, which connects survivors to local groups and other resources in the aftermath to foster stability and resilience. Established in 2022, this evidence-based initiative now supports teams that serve eight upstate counties.
In addition, Be Well, OMH’s ongoing public awareness campaign to support mental wellness and help New Yorkers navigate tough times, has added information on how to process grief and cope with the complex grieving process. This new content provides tips individuals can use to help themselves or others, including conversation starters, and how to be an active listener for someone who is grieving.
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