House Bill 54, sponsored by Representative Eric Morrison and Senator Spiros Mantzavinos along with House Speaker Melissa Minor Brown, was signed into law by Governor Matt Meyer on August 25. This bill creates the Office of Suicide Prevention with DHSS to coordinate prevention efforts, data and best practices across agencies and communities.
“We have made strides in our state to increase access to mental health services and prevent individuals from taking their own lives. But we have overlooked a clear opportunity to do more,” Morrison said. “With the signing of HB 54 into law, all 50 states now have a state-level office dedicated to preventing suicide, or comparable services. We were the last state in the nation to implement this simple but effective measure to coordinate statewide suicide prevention efforts, and we will now have more opportunities to gain a better understanding over time on how to improve our strategies moving forward. This office will save lives, and I could not be more grateful to have had a hand in its creation.”
Called DJs Bill, named for her children, the measure has been something Jennifer Antonik has been fighting for since soon after losing her husband to suicide over two years ago. After her husband died, Antonik searched for assistance for her family only to find that there was very little available. This led her to talk to legislators about the creation of an Office for Suicide Prevention which she discovered was available in other states.
“When I learned my children and I had a three times higher risk of suicide than the average person, I knew I needed to take action,” Antonik said in an interview last year. “There was nothing at the state level if you know someone is heading down that path. There was no one to go to for help.”
The new office will move a vacant position from another department so it would not add to the budget, Antonik explained. The office will act as a coordinator between the many agencies that currently offer suicide prevention services, working with the Department of Services for Children Youth and their Families. It will also assist the suicide coalition with its mission and provide prevention, intervention, postvention vision and guidance to stakeholders.
“Thank you, Governor, for signing this bill, for seeing this as a need. Representative Morrison, thank you for hearing the call in the middle of a festival when I have you our elevator speech and I said I need you to call me and then you did,” Antonik said after the signing of the bill. “As he said, Delaware was once the only state, we were once the only state without a statewide position dedicated to suicide prevention and that changed today.”
Antonik continued.
“This office is about hope. It’s hope for the future and hope in growing a stigma-free community. It’s a love song to those we love and support, to those we love and lost and to our own healing journeys,” Antonik said. “You might have seen Delaware actress Aubrey Plaza who lost her husband to suicide. She recently said her grief felt like a giant ocean with monsters and darkness surrounding two big cliffs like in the movie “The Gorge” and I thought that was an incredible cinematic depiction with a Delaware flare and one that I often feel myself.”
Antonik continued, stating that the most healing thing survivors can do is hear the stories of grief, but also to hear the stories of hope and that was what she viewed the Office of Suicide Prevention to be.
“We can’t ignore the importance of supporting folks after a loss just like we can’t ignore the importance of preventative measures before loss. We as suicide loss survivors are 65 percent more likely to attempt suicide ourselves and that makes my Mama Bear heart angry, makes me very upset knowing that we have not had support, but it makes me very happy to know we will have support coming down the pike,” Antonik said. “Today, we can say Delaware is doing a lot. We are watching a new story of hope and for anybody who knows me personally, you know stories are my thing. We’re watching a new story of hope unfold right now for the Office of Suicide Prevention, for all those amazing bills that are being signed, This is a story, it’s a love song and I’m very grateful to know that with the help of everyone in this beautiful, diverse room filled with change makers, survivors and professionals and in my Ben’s memory, we will be making that change.”
Other bills signed during the session included HB 36 updated narrow nondiscrimination provisions and HB 37 which ensured government-provided, government-funded or government-supervised services be held to the same non-discrimination standards as private businesses. HB 129 allows youth whose cases stay in Superior Court to take a plea but appeal that decision within 30 days. HB 154 protects nonprofits and law enforcement agencies from being sued if they give out new gun safes or safety devices as long as they are unopened and in their original packaging.
HB 220 updated Delaware’s Juvenile Offender Civil Citation Program allowing civil rather than criminal charges for some misdemeanor youth offenses. SB 17 modernizes the Crime Victim’s Bill of Rights. SB 73 clears language that only law enforcement officers can request an emergency Lethal Violence Protection Order. SB 82 extends the period of time granted under lethal violence protective orders from one to five years. SB 139 requires law-enforcement agencies to retain and document biological evidence in sexual-offense investigations for defined periods.
“We will protect our most vulnerable neighbors, support mental health and expand access to justice and dignity for every resident.” Meyer said. “These bills get us one step closer to that reality, saving lives and supporting survivors.”
If you are in crisis, please call, text or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. You can also call Delaware’s Contact LifeLine at 1-800-262-9800.
