Presidential Document2023-19923
World Suicide Prevention Day, 2023
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
September 13, 2023
Signed
September 8, 2023
Issuing agencies
Executive Office of the President
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 176 (Wednesday, September 13, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 176 (Wednesday, September 13, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 62691-62692]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-19923]
Presidential Documents
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 176 / Wednesday, September 13, 2023 /
Presidential Documents
[[Page 62691]]
Proclamation 10621 of September 8, 2023
World Suicide Prevention Day, 2023
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation
On World Suicide Prevention Day, we hold all those
affected by suicide close in our hearts--the Americans
we have lost to this public health problem, the loved
ones who mourn their heart-wrenching losses, and all
the families and professionals working to support those
in crisis. Though we recognize there is no single cause
or single solution to suicide, we know that access to
support and treatment can save lives. My Administration
remains committed to expanding suicide prevention
programs to reach every community in our Nation and
ensuring all Americans can receive the care and support
they deserve.
My Administration is working to tackle the mental
health crisis, including by addressing the many risk
factors associated with suicide--it is a core pillar of
my Unity Agenda and one of the big challenges we as a
society can overcome together. We have laid out a
strategy to transform how mental health is understood,
accessed, treated, and integrated in and out of health
care settings. Our goals are to strengthen the mental
health system's capacity, connect more Americans to
care, and create healthy environments that strengthen
mental health.
In 2021, more than 48,000 Americans were lost to
suicide, over 12.3 million adults seriously considered
suicide, and 1.7 million people attempted suicide.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death among
youth and young adults between the ages of 10 and 24
years old. And the suicide rate for veterans was more
than 50 percent greater than for non-veteran adults.
Yet despite the fact that so many Americans struggle
with their mental health, treatment is often too
expensive or inaccessible.
In 2021, less than half of all adults with mental
illness received care for it. For children, the numbers
are even worse. Nearly 70 percent of our kids who seek
care for mental health or substance use cannot get it.
Parents, teachers, school nurses, and counselors are
telling us there is a serious youth mental health
crisis happening right now in this country. But
insurers still make it far too difficult to get mental
health care. With too few mental health providers in
their plan's network, patients with private insurance
are often forced to seek out-of-network care at
significantly higher costs, if they can find it.
Recently, my Administration proposed new steps to
meaningfully expand access to mental health care in
America, including requiring health insurance plans to
identify gaps in the mental health care that they
provide and to fix them. Under this plan, insurers
would have to measure how often they require prior
authorization for mental health care treatment and how
often they deny those requests.
I have heard the despair from families everywhere,
watching their spouse's, child's, or loved one's light
dim, knowing they need help but lacking the means to
get it. This sense of helplessness strips families of
their confidence and dignity. Health insurers should
cover mental health crises the same way they would
cover treatment for a broken bone or any other physical
health condition. Since I took office, my
Administration has been fighting to make that a
reality.
[[Page 62692]]
Our American Rescue Plan delivered nearly $5 billion to
expand Federal and State mental health and substance
use services. Last year, when we passed the Nation's
first major gun safety law in nearly three decades, we
added measures to further expand the number of school
psychologists and counselors available to our kids,
make it easier for schools to use Medicaid to deliver
mental health services, and increase the number of
Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics that
deliver 24/7 care.
We have also launched 988, the National Suicide and
Crisis Lifeline, which connects those experiencing a
mental health crisis to a trained crisis counselor
right away. And we established the National Maternal
Mental Health Hotline to help mothers navigate mental
health issues that can be reached by dialing 1-833-TLC-
MAMA (1-833-852-6262). And to those experiencing
emotional distress or thoughts of suicide: Please know
that you are loved and that there is hope. I encourage
you to call or text 988 for free, confidential support.
We are also investing in mental health care and suicide
prevention efforts for service members and veterans to
better honor our sacred obligation to the troops we
send into harm's way by caring for them and their
families when they return. We are hiring more mental
health professionals and investing in programs that
recruit veterans to help others get the support they
need. We are working to expand rental assistance and
job placement programs for our veterans to help reduce
financial strain. And to help our first responders heal
from any trauma they faced on the job, I have also
signed laws that extend counseling, benefits, and other
mental health resources.
As the world joins together to honor the memories of
those we lost to suicide and their loved ones, may we
recommit to ensuring that help and support are
accessible and affordable to every American.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of
the United States of America, by virtue of the
authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws
of the United States, do hereby proclaim September 10,
2023, as World Suicide Prevention Day. I call upon all
Americans, communities, organizations, and levels of
government to join me in creating hope through action
and committing to preventing suicide across America.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this
eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord two
thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the
United States of America the two hundred and forty-
eighth.
<GRAPHIC(S) NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT>
(Presidential Sig.)
[FR Doc. 2023-19923
Filed 9-12-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on September 13, 2023.
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