Nebraska suicide mortality review team proposal, with emphasis on veterans, advances
LINCOLN — State lawmakers are looking to boost action by recent governors to combat suicide in Nebraska through new legislation with an extra focus on veterans and their families.
Legislative Bill 414, by State Sen. George Dungan of Lincoln, would house a new suicide mortality review team in the Nebraska Department of Veterans' Affairs. The team would review the circumstances around any suicides in the state generally, with an extra focus on veterans with the location. Dungan called the bill a 'first step' toward working to prevent future suicides and said it would 'help Nebraska as a whole.'
'Having this established review team in the Department of Veterans' Affairs would be a game changer for our veterans dealing with mental health issues and for Nebraskans struggling with mental illness across the entire state,' Dungan said last week during floor debate.
LB 414, which advanced 37-0, follows efforts from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, seeking similar reviews at the state and community level.
Former Gov. Pete Ricketts, now in the U.S. Senate, joined the 'Governor's Challenge to Prevent Suicide Among Service Members, Veterans and their Families' in 2022. Nebraska joined the suicide mortality review efforts under Gov. Jim Pillen in 2024.
With Pillen's support, Nebraska leaders have met monthly for such reviews and received federal funding to help, too. Dungan's bill would put the team into state law with additional structure.
Among the team's duties would be developing a data collection system, conducting an annual analysis of the incidences and causes of suicides in the state during the prior fiscal year, creating protocols for such investigations, studying the adequacy of laws and training to determine possible changes to help prevent suicides and educating the public.
Upon request of the agency director, a county attorney or the Nebraska attorney general could subpoena to request relevant records.
The suicide mortality review team established by LB 414 would include:
The director or designee of the state Veterans' Affairs Department.
A representative of the Nebraska Violent Death Reporting System.
A representative of Nebraska Local Outreach to Suicide Loss Survivors.
A representative of the Division of Behavioral Health in the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.
An education administrator.
A hospital representative.
An emergency medical services representative.
A member of law enforcement.
A mental health professional or licensed clinical social worker.
A veteran representative.
Additional members as needed.
An annual report would be required by April 1 summarizing the data by cause of death, factors contributing to the death, age, sex, race, geographic location and date of death. The report could include recommendations to prevent additional suicides.
Dungan said he has attended the monthly meetings where mental health officials, law enforcement, county attorneys and others get involved. He said the team, for example, had identified a motel with a high number of suicides happening on the property.
The motel later received a grant for staff suicide awareness and prevention training, which was successful, Dungan said. But when the funding stopped, the impact reversed.
Dungan said there is already a database for violent death reporting and that nothing in his bill would jeopardize privacy protections.
'I care about this issue a lot. Mental health and the results that come from poor mental health care and other various things are incredibly close and near and dear to us,' Dungan said at his bill's hearing. 'I just want to make sure we take this bill very seriously.'
Speaker John Arch of La Vista selected LB 414 as one of his 25 speaker priority bills for the 2025 session.
Jenifer Acierno, legal counsel for the Nebraska Veterans' Affairs Department, testified in favor of the bill at its March 6 hearing. She said LB 414 'provides the opportunity to coordinate the next steps in combating veteran suicide.'
The Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee unanimously advanced LB 414, including State Sen. Bob Andersen of north-central Sarpy County, one of three veterans on the committee.
Andersen, the committee vice chair and a 21-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force, described the issue as a 'delicate dance' of ensuring privacy while making certain the suicide mortality review team gets access to all the context of the situation and how a person 'got to the place where suicide was the only way out.'
He added that he knows people who have committed suicide and urged Dungan to include a veteran on the review team, who he said might have a background critical in identifying areas not readily apparent to civilians. His idea was ultimately included in an amendment that lawmakers adopted 36-0. Andersen suggested future work to identify high-risk veterans earlier to provide help.
'We've been in situations where we understand why they get where they get, and whatever we can do to isolate in advance and help bring them back [would help them] get on with a productive life,' Andersen said. 'Kudos to you for bringing the bill.'
Dungan thanked Andersen, as well as State Sens. Dan McKeon of Amherst and Dan Lonowski of Hastings, the other two veterans on the committee, for their service.
'Suicide is one of those things that I think affects all of us, even if it's tangential,' Dungan said at the hearing. 'We all know stories, and so I think it's something we have to take care of sooner than later.'
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