Governor Chris Sununu has signed the Jason Dickey Suicide Prevention Act

Governor Chris Sununu has signed the Jason Dickey Suicide Prevention Act, which requires all student identification cards in New Hampshire to include the phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The bill was signed August 3, 2022. The governor commended the activism for greater mental health funding by the family of Jason Dickey, a high school student who died by suicide, and prime sponsor NH State Senator Ruth Ward, pictured to the left of Gov. Sununu.

The school ID bill arose from a suggestion by Gov. Chris Sununu to Sen. Ruth Ward (R-Stoddard), Chair of the NH Senate Education Committee, who became the prime sponsor of SB 234, which is titled the Jason Dickey Suicide Prevention Act.

The bill won easy approval in both chambers of the legislature and is now on its way to being signed into law by Gov. Sununu. The bill was amended to honor the memory of Jason Dickey, a 19-year-old Boscawen man who took his life in 2017. Jason’s parents, Martha and Paul, have been visible and effective advocates for legislation to improve suicide prevention resources, and testified in support of the bill.