Schumer, pushing spending plan, says suicide help is on the way

Aug. 24--A bipartisan bill to increase funds for suicide prevention and mental health research is one step closer to President Trump's desk, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer said Friday.

"So many Americans are crying out for help and these new funds will help life savers at suicide-prevention hotlines answer the call -- and it will fund research and prevention programs, too," Schumer said in a statement. "These funds are aimed at reaching people during their darkest hours to try to rescue them."

The push to fund suicide hotline programs comes months after the high-profile deaths of fashion icon Kate Spade and celebrity chef and TV foodie Anthony Bourdain, who killed themselves just weeks apart in June.

Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, with nearly 45,000 Americans taking their own lives each year, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

A recent Centers for Disease Control report revealed the rate of suicides in the U.S. soared by 30 % between 1999 and 2016.

Every 13 minutes a person commits suicide in the U.S., exceeding the death rate of homicide and AIDS combined, the CDC report said.

The same report said New York also saw a 30 % rise in suicides from 1999 through 2016 and that a New Yorker ends their life every five hours.

Despite the increase, federal funding for suicide prevention had flatlined over the last five years, Schumer said.

Spending on a suicide hotline is held tight at $7 million per year, and money for programs that study and strategize anti-suicide policy is kept to $5.9 million per year.

But the Schumer-backed bill includes a Senate appropriation for $10 million in fiscal year 2019 -- a 39 % increase.

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