Establishes a 13 member veteran suicide mortality review board to serve as the statewide entity responsible for the multidisciplinary review of suicide deaths among veterans by identifying trends and systemic factors contributing to veteran suicide; assessing gaps in services, access to care, and institutional practices; developing evidence-based recommendations for prevention and policy improvement; and promoting collaboration among relevant state, local, and federal agencies.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9645A
SPONSOR: Lavine TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to establishing a
veteran suicide mortality review board
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to codify and operationalize a statewide
Veteran Suicide Mortality Review Board (VSMRB) that systematically
reviews veteran suicide deaths, identifies trends and systemic gaps and
issues actionable recommendations to prevent future deaths.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one of the bill would establish, in consultation with the
Department of Health and the Department of Veterans' Services, the
veteran suicide mortality board and require the board to:
-conduct a multidisciplinary review of suicide deaths among veterans;
-identify trends and systemic factors contributing to veteran suicide;
-develop evidence-based recommendations for prevention and policy
improvement;
-promote collaboration among relevant state, local, and federal agencies
-identify initiatives or make recommendations that would build upon NYS
participation in federal veteran suicide programs, including the U.S.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration/VA Suicide
Mortality Review framework and the Governor's Challenge to Prevent
Veteran Suicide;
-require the board to be composed of 13 members appointed by the Gover-
nor and require such members to serve three-year terms;
-hold meetings at least twice a year; and
-no later than one year after the first meeting and each year thereaft-
er, require the board to submit an annual report to the Governor, the
Legislature, the Commissioner of OMH, the Commissioner of DVS, and the
Commissioner of DOH.
JUSTIFICATION:
Veterans in New York die by suicide at nearly twice the rate of civil-
ians and younger veterans are particularly at risk; Veteran suicide is a
significant public health crisis in New York. Nationally, more than
6,400 veterans died by suicide in 2022, underscoring the urgency of
targeted and sustained prevention efforts.
New York State has already committed, as a matter of policy, to address-
ing it through participation in federal veteran suicide prevention and
mortality review initiatives led by the United States Department of
Veterans Affairs and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration. New York has fOrmally joined the Governor's Challenge to
Prevent Veteran Suicide and has convened stakeholder meetings and imple-
mentation discussions, to develop a Veteran Suicide Mortality. Review
process. However, despite these commitments, the review board has not
been fully implemented or operationalized because it lacks a clear stat-
utory framework requiring interagency cooperation, data sharing and
coordinated review.
As is the case with other mortality review efforts, the absence of stat-
utory authority has resulted in fragmented and incomplete implementa-
tion. Under current law, state agencies are not mandated to share infor-
mation, participate in reviews, or align their efforts in a unified
manner. As a result, data remains fragmented across the Department of
Health, the Office of Mental Health, the Division of Veterans' Services,
medical examiners, and federal partners, undermining the State's ability
to conduct comprehensive reviews, identify systemic failures, and make
effective policy recommendations. Without clear statutory direction,
participation remains discretionary, reviews are inconsistent, and the
State is unable to fully analyze the circumstances surrounding veteran
suicide deaths or identify systemic gaps in care, services, and transi-
tions.
This lack of coordination significantly limits the State's ability to
develop evidence-based recommendations to prevent future deaths. This
bill establishes the statutory structure necessary to implement existing
State policy as intended. It does not create a new program or duplicate
existing efforts. Rather, it codifies and formalizes the Veteran Suicide
Mortality Review Board within the. Department of Health, ensuring that
the work already underway is conducted in a coordinated, multidiscipli-
nary, and non-fragmented manner. The board already has identified fund-
ing streams and is intended to operate within existing Department of
Health infrastructure. This legislation simply provides the legal
authority required to mandate interagency participation, protect confi-
dentiality, and ensure consistent review and reporting.
By placing the Veteran Suicide Mortality Review Board in statute, this
bill ensures accountability, durability, and effectiveness. A statutory
mandate is the only mechanism that will allow New York State to fully
implement its existing commitments, eliminate silos between agencies,
and carry out meaningful, data-driven suicide prevention work for veter-
ans across the State.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Minimal. The board will build upon current funding streams, including
federal technical assistance and grant-supported activities associated
with the Governor's Challenge to Prevent Veterans Suicide and related
United States Department of Veterans Affairs and Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration programs.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law. The veteran suicide mortality board established
by section one of this act shall convene its first meeting within ninety
days of such effective date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
9645--A
IN ASSEMBLY
January 21, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. LAVINE, WEPRIN, HEVESI, HYNDMAN, KASSAY, SANTA-
BARBARA, McDONALD, CONRAD, DINOWITZ, SIMON, SEAWRIGHT, ZACCARO, SCHIA-
VONI, JENSEN, SLATER, NOVAKHOV, DeSTEFANO, CHANG, GALLAHAN, K. BROWN,
RA, LEMONDES -- read once and referred to the Committee on Veterans'
Affairs -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as
amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to establishing a
veteran suicide mortality review board
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The mental hygiene law is amended by adding a new article
2 79-A to read as follows:
3 ARTICLE 79-A
4 VETERAN SUICIDE MORTALITY REVIEW BOARD
5 Section 79.51 Veteran suicide mortality review board; establishment and
6 purpose.
7 79.53 Membership.
8 79.55 Powers and duties.
9 79.57 Reporting.
10 79.59 Staffing and resources.
11 § 79.51 Veteran suicide mortality review board; establishment and
12 purpose.
13 1. There is hereby established within the office, in consultation with
14 the department of health and the department of veterans' services, a
15 veteran suicide mortality review board, hereinafter "the board".
16 2. The board is authorized to conduct a multidisciplinary review of
17 suicide deaths among veterans and shall perform the following tasks:
18 (a) identify trends and systemic factors contributing to veteran
19 suicide;
20 (b) assess gaps in services, access to care, and institutional prac-
21 tices;
22 (c) develop evidence-based recommendations for prevention and policy
23 improvement;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD14433-04-6
A. 9645--A 2
1 (d) promote collaboration among relevant state, local, and federal
2 agencies; and
3 (e) identify initiatives or make recommendations that would enhance or
4 build upon New York state's participation in federal veteran suicide
5 programs, including the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
6 Administration/VA Suicide Mortality review framework and the Governor's
7 Challenge to Prevent Veteran Suicide.
8 3. As used in this article the term "veteran" shall have the same
9 meaning as defined in subdivision ten of section six hundred seventy-
10 seven of the county law.
11 § 79.53 Membership.
12 1. The board shall be composed of at least thirteen members appointed
13 by the governor including the following:
14 (a) the commissioner of health, or their designee;
15 (b) the commissioner of mental health, or their designee who shall be
16 the chair of the board;
17 (c) the state commissioner of veterans' services, or their designee;
18 (d) two representatives of county medical examiners or coroners;
19 (e) one representative from the state conference of local mental
20 hygiene directors established under article forty-one of this chapter;
21 (f) two licensed clinicians experienced in mental health and suicide
22 prevention;
23 (g) two public health experts with experience in mortality review or
24 epidemiology; and
25 (h) up to three additional members with expertise in veterans' issues,
26 community mental health, or suicide prevention.
27 2. Members shall serve for three year terms, and may serve until a
28 successor is appointed.
29 3. A majority of the membership of the board shall constitute a
30 quorum.
31 4. When any member of the board fails to attend three consecutive
32 regular meetings, unless such absence is for good cause, that membership
33 may be deemed vacant for purposes of the appointment of a successor.
34 5. Meetings of the board shall be held at least twice a year but may
35 be held more frequently as deemed necessary, subject to request of the
36 office.
37 6. Members of the board shall be indemnified under section seventeen
38 of the public officers law.
39 7. Members of the board shall not be compensated for their partic-
40 ipation on the board but shall receive reimbursement for their ordinary
41 and necessary expenses of participation.
42 8. Membership on the board shall not disqualify any person from hold-
43 ing any public office or employment.
44 § 79.55 Powers and duties.
45 1. The board shall have the following powers and duties:
46 (a) Case review of deaths by suicide of individuals identified as
47 veterans, including those recently separated from military service. In
48 addition to any other information collected pursuant to this article,
49 the board shall review completed forms received from the department of
50 veterans' services pursuant to subdivision thirty-five of section four
51 of the veterans' services law. The board shall assess the cause of
52 suicide, factors leading to suicide, and the preventability for each
53 suicide death reviewed.
54 (b) Coordination with federal and state partners, including U.S.
55 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the
56 U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and other agencies involved in
A. 9645--A 3
1 veteran suicide prevention. The commissioner is authorized to enter into
2 memoranda of understanding with the federal government to facilitate
3 such cooperation including data sharing and access to relevant records,
4 including but not limited to VA records, provided that the commissioner
5 shall ensure that such agreements adequately protect the confidentiality
6 of veteran information consistent with state law.
7 (c) Issue evidence-based recommendations for system improvements,
8 policy, and preventive interventions.
9 2. The commissioner may request and shall receive upon request from
10 any department, division, board, bureau, commission, local health
11 departments or other agency of the state or political subdivision there-
12 of or any public authority, such information, including but not limited
13 to death records, medical records, autopsy reports, toxicology reports,
14 hospital discharge records, and any other information that will help the
15 board under this section to properly carry out its functions, powers and
16 duties.
17 3. The commissioner shall receive and may solicit voluntary informa-
18 tion, including oral or written statements, relating to any veteran
19 suicide death or suicide attempt from any family member or other inter-
20 ested party, including the veteran in a case of suicide attempt, relat-
21 ing to any case that may come before the board. Oral statements received
22 under this paragraph shall be transcribed or summarized in writing. The
23 commissioner shall transmit such information to the board.
24 4. Before transmitting any information to the board, the commissioner
25 shall remove all personally identifying information of the veteran,
26 health care practitioner or practitioners, or anyone else individually
27 named in such information, as well as the hospital or facility that
28 treated the veteran, if applicable, and any other information, such as
29 geographic location, that may inadvertently identify the veteran, prac-
30 titioner or facility. This subdivision shall not preclude the transmit-
31 ting of information to the board that is reasonably necessary to enable
32 the board to perform an appropriate review under this section.
33 5. The commissioner and the board shall each keep confidential any
34 information collected or received under this article that includes
35 personally identifying information of the veteran, health care practi-
36 tioner or practitioners or anyone else individually named in such infor-
37 mation, as well as the hospital or facility that treated the veteran, if
38 applicable, and any other information such as geographic location that
39 may inadvertently identify the veteran, practitioner or facility, and
40 shall use the information provided or received under this section solely
41 for the purposes of improvement of the quality of health care of veter-
42 ans and to prevent veteran suicide. This subdivision shall not preclude
43 the transmitting of information to the board that is reasonably neces-
44 sary to enable the board to perform an appropriate review under this
45 section.
46 6. All records received, meetings conducted, reports, except those
47 reports required to be issued by the board pursuant to this article, and
48 records made and maintained by the board, and all books and papers
49 obtained by the board shall be confidential and shall not be made open
50 or available, including under article six of the public officers law,
51 with access limited only to board members and those authorized in writ-
52 ing by the commissioner. Such information shall not be discoverable or
53 admissible as evidence in any action in any court or before any other
54 tribunal, board, agency or person.
55 § 79.57 Reporting.
A. 9645--A 4
1 1. No later than one year after its first meeting and each year ther-
2 eafter, the board shall submit an annual report to the governor, the
3 legislature, the commissioner, the commissioner of veterans' services
4 and the commissioner of health summarizing:
5 (a) the board's activities including the number of veteran suicide
6 cases reviewed;
7 (b) the number of apparent veteran suicide deaths reported by coron-
8 ers, coroner's physicians or medical examiners pursuant to subdivision
9 ten of section six hundred seventy-seven of the county law;
10 (c) trends in veteran suicides statewide, including at a minimum the
11 most common methods of suicide;
12 (d) systemic gaps or failures contributing to veteran suicide deaths;
13 and
14 (e) demographic information about veterans who die by suicide, includ-
15 ing age, sex, race or ethnicity, county of residence and to the extent
16 relevant and practicable, information about military service and medical
17 history, including military discharge status, time elapsed since date of
18 discharge or release from military service and date of death, service on
19 federal or state active duty including the time and place of such
20 service, eligibility for and/or use of VA health care services, and
21 physical or mental health conditions including service-connected disa-
22 bilities; and
23 (f) any other findings deemed relevant by the board, as well as the
24 board's recommendations for policy, practice, and program improvements
25 or best practices to contribute to the prevention of veteran suicide.
26 2. The report shall protect individual privacy, presenting only de-i-
27 dentified or aggregated data.
28 3. The report shall also be made publicly available on the websites of
29 the office, the department of health and the department of veterans'
30 services.
31 § 79.59 Staffing and resources.
32 The office shall provide administrative support, staffing, and analyt-
33 ical capacity necessary for the board to fulfill its duties. The board
34 may also utilize existing federal or state funding, technical assist-
35 ance, and data systems, including those provided by U.S. Substance Abuse
36 and Mental Health Services Administration and U.S. Department of Veter-
37 ans Affairs programs.
38 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
39 it shall have become a law. The veteran suicide mortality review board
40 established by section one of this act shall convene its first meeting
41 within ninety days of such effective date.
