Ninety-seven Black Cook County residents died by suicide in 2020 the highest total for a single year in more than a decade.
The alarming rise came as government officials fell short on pledges to improve suicide-prevention efforts that were made after The Trace and the Chicago Sun-Times reported last July on the rising number of deaths.
In response, Chicago city health officials said they would seek proposals from private agencies to create and implement a suicide-prevention plan. And county officials said they were working on a similar plan and would have it by year’s end.
But neither the city nor the county came through on those promises.