House unanimously passes teen suicide prevention bill

House lawmakers Tuesday unanimously passed legislation aimed at preventing suicide among Delaware's youth.

House Bill 90 mandates annual 90-minute suicide-prevention training sessions for public school employees and requires schools to establish prevention and response committees and craft prevention policies that would allow for confidential and anonymous reporting of at-risk behavior.

The prevention policies would have to be included in student and staff handbooks and posted online. School districts and charter schools would have to implement their suicide prevention policies by Sept. 1, 2016, if the measure, which now heads to the Senate, is passed by the General Assembly.

Delaware is one of 13 states that do not require school personnel to have suicide-prevention training, according to the American Federation for Suicide Prevention. And according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is the third-leading cause of death among youth between the ages of 10 and 24.

House Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst, D-Delaware City, said it is about time that the state starts paying attention to the needs of students in distress. In 2012, the state saw 11 teens take their lives, the highest number over the last 12 years for 15- to 19-year-olds. That same year, 39 kids were hospitalized for self-inflicted injuries.

"One death is way too many for the state of Delaware," Longhurst said.

Cyndi McLaughlin, whose 15-year-old son Jeremy Kossek committed suicide in 2001, said his friends were devastated when he took his life. The school had a tough time addressing it with kids, she said.

Jeremy was a Christiana High School freshman.

"This legislation is an amazing start to keeping the conversation going and to give our kids the support they need, both before suicide and after suicide," she said, speaking to lawmakers on the House floor. "Thank you very much, from the bottom of my heart."

Contact Jon Offredo at (302) 678-4271 or at joffredo@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @jonoffredo.