Families could seek aid after suicide deaths in Delaware if funded

The state victim assistance agency would consider claims for financial help and services. Spouses, children, parents, siblings, and legal dependents of someone who dies by suicide in Delaware could apply. The death certificate must list suicide. The fund would pay only after other sources of compensation, such as insurance, are exhausted. The aid provisions would take effect on the July 1 after enactment and funding; benefits would cover deaths on or after enactment.

State lawmakers would provide money for a separate aid fund through the yearly budget. The state victim assistance agency would keep the fund separate from its other money and could use it for family aid and program costs. The act would take effect only after lawmakers put money in the fund. Money left at the end of a fiscal year would carry forward. The act would take effect on the July 1 after it becomes law and lawmakers put money in the fund.

State law would cap yearly fund spending at $750,000, and the agency would reduce claim payments when a spending trigger is met. The cap would cover all fund spending, including family aid and program costs. The agency must reduce pending and future payments evenly if projected spending would exceed the cap or 75% of that year's funding has been spent. The reductions cannot change eligibility or payments already made. Payment cuts would last for the rest of that fiscal year. Lawmakers would review the cap every two fiscal years starting in fiscal year 2028.