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Vol. 74/No. 26      July 12, 2010

 
New York mayor cuts funding
for suicide prevention hotline
 
BY BRIAN WILLIAMS  
NEW YORK—Amidst the sharp cuts to schools, hospitals, libraries, and many social services in Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposed New York City budget, scheduled to go into effect July 1, is a little-noticed item terminating funds for a 24-hour suicide hotline.

Under the proposal the Samaritans of New York, a two-decade-old, nonreligious group, would have their $247,150-a-year contract with the city eliminated. This “will virtually cause us to close our doors,” the group noted on its Web site.

The number of people dialing the Samaritans’ hot line keeps growing, now exceeding 65,000 a year. Volunteers trained in counseling individuals not to take their lives handle the calls.

In a June 14 New York Times column titled “City Budget May Cut Short Cries for Help,” Clyde Haberman notes that this cut amounts to “literally two minutes’ worth of the municipal government’s annual budget.”

The Bloomberg administration says that LifeNet, a privately owned company with a $2.3 million-a-year contract with the city, will replace the Samaritans. It also has a 24-hour hot line but operates more like an information referral service.

LifeNet’s Web site states its “referral specialists” will “listen to the problem and assess the situation” then provide you “with information about local community resources” you can contact.  
 
 
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