BILL NUMBER: S6653
SPONSOR: WEBB
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to enacting the college
student suicide prevention act
 
PURPOSE:
To require NYS colleges and universities to develop suicide prevention,
intervention, and postvention policies.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends the short title. That this act shall be known and may
be cited as the "college student suicide prevention act".
Section 2 amends the education law by adding a new section 6438-d. Part
1 establishes legislative intent which includes data from the Federal
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Healthy Minds Network's
National Healthy Minds Surveys, The Gallup and Lumina Foundation's
National State of Higher Education Survey, American College Health Asso-
ciation's National College Health Assessment, The American Foundation of
Suicide Prevention, and Healthy CUNY to highlight the areas of need to
be addressed by Colleges and Universities. Part 2 clarifies the defi-
nition of the following terms, "Crisis Situation", "LGBTQ", "Higher
education institution", "QPR", "Suicide intervention", "Suicide postven-
tion", and "Suicide prevention". Part 3 states the policies, procedures,
and guidelines for colleges and universities. Part 4 establishes the
severability and construction.
Section 3 establishes the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
According to the data from the federal Centers of Disease Control and
Prevention as reported in the year 2020, suicide is the second leading
cause of death for youth and young adults between the ages of 10 to 24
across both the state of New York and the United States. Suicide rates
nearly doubled among New York States youth in this age range from 2007
to 2018. One in four surveyed young adults 19 to 24 years old reported
having seriously considered suicide in the prior thirty days nationally.
In 2023, separate reports from the Healthy Minds Network's national
Healthy Minds Survey, the Gallup and Lumina Foundation's national State
of Higher Education Survey, and the American College Health Associ-
ation's National College Health Assessment declared that U.S. college
students were experiencing historic levels of depression, anxiety,
suicidal ideation, frequent emotional stress, overall moderate to severe
psychological distress, and loneliness.
According to data from Healthy CUNY as reported in the year 2021, more
than half of all CUNY students report experiencing depression or anxie-
ty. While nearly every CUNY institution houses its own counseling
center.
The College Student Suicide Prevention Act, which is modeled after simi-
lar legislation for K-12 students, aims to establish universal prepared-
ness standards for NYS higher education institutions, equip staff to
respond to students in suicidal crisis and make mental health resources
and services more identifiable and accessible for at-risk students.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
S9249 05/15/24 Referred to Higher Education /
A9923-A 05/06/24 Amend and recommit to higher education; print number
9923a
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.