A report released Thursday by the Connecticut Office of the Child Advocate recorded 67 non-natural child deaths in 2025, down from 83 the previous year and 15% below the previous five-year average, while the share of suicides among children under 15 rose. According to the report, 62% of children who died by suicide in 2025 were under the age of 15, compared with 34% in the four previous years.
Connecticut reports 67 child deaths in 2025 as share of suicides among children under 15 rises
A report released Thursday by the Connecticut Office of the Child Advocate recorded 67 non-natural child deaths in 2025, down from 83 the previous year and 15% below the previous five-year average, while the share of suicides among children under 15 rose. According to the report, 62% of children who died by suicide in 2025 were under the age of 15, compared with 34% in the four previous years.
Child Advocate Christina Ghio said the shift toward younger ages was deeply concerning and that parents should know about available resources, including urgent crisis centers and the 988 mental health and suicide hotline. She said 16 children visit Connecticut emergency departments daily with self-harm or suicidal ideation, and that the death figures represent only part of the picture.
Earlier in the month, state officials and providers announced that the state's Transforming Children's Behavioral Health Policy and Planning Committee are launching a marketing campaign to promote mental health services available to children in the state. Connecticut's urgent crisis centers operate as walk-in clinics for children needing mental health services in Hartford, New Haven, Waterbury and New London, and the state has a mobile crisis intervention program reachable by calling United Way at 211.
The report found that 15 babies died in 2025 because of unsafe sleep conditions, and that in all of those cases the environments did not comply with American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations for safe sleep. That figure is down from 23 babies in 2024.
The report also noted an increase in children who died in moped or motorcycle accidents, to four children in 2025 from two in 2024. Ghio said the trend concerned her because of the increased prevalence of e-bikes and related injuries among children.
- The source does not give the calendar date of the report's release beyond stating it was released Thursday.
- The source does not state the total number of children who died by suicide in 2025, only the percentage who were under 15.
- The source does not state the previous five-year average as a number of deaths, only the percentage change from it.
- The source does not describe the causes of the child deaths other than suicide, unsafe sleep and moped or motorcycle crashes.
- The source does not state where the moped or motorcycle deaths occurred or the ages of the children involved.
- The source does not state the source of the figure of 16 daily emergency department visits for self-harm or suicidal ideation, or how that figure compares with prior years.
Read the original at CT Mirror