From AFT:
“VA to award millions in
suicide prevention grants to community groups”
Veterans Affairs officials plan
to award nearly $52 million in grants for suicide prevention programs in coming
months to community groups in an effort to provide more targeted help for
individuals in distress and better outreach to veterans outside the VA health
care system. The program has been in the works for the last 18 months, since
Congress authorized the move as part of comprehensive mental health
legislation. Individual groups can receive up to $750,000 through the effort,
and can have that money renewed for two additional years if they show progress
in preventing suicide.
Advocates have compared the idea
to the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program, which annually awards money
to community groups to provide faster and more focused aid to veterans facing
housing problems. The grants have been a key tool in driving down rates of
homelessness among veterans over the last decade. The new Staff Sergeant Parker
Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program is designed to replicate that
success with mental health and emergency intervention services. Veterans
Affairs officials have hired hundreds of additional staffers to help with the
increased workload.
Veteran suicides fell to their
lowest level in 12 years in 2019, down more than one death a day from the
previous year’s levels, according to data released by the Department of
Veterans Affairs last fall Despite that, the rate of suicides among veterans
remains almost double the rest of the American public. Of the estimated 17
veteran deaths by suicide each day, about 10 of them are from individuals with
no contact with VA health or support services. VA officials have worked in
recent years to improve outreach to that group. Department officials said they
will prioritize grants to organizations “that focus on areas with limited
access to medical services, in rural communities, on tribal lands, in U.S.
territories, or in areas with a high number or percentage of minority veterans
or women veterans.”
VA will also give extra attention
to groups working in regions “with a high number or percentage of calls to the
Veterans Crisis Line,” which provides around-the-clock support to veterans in
crisis. Applications are open now, and money is expected to be delivered to
groups in September. Matthew Miller, executive director of the VA Suicide
Prevention Program, said the new grants will help strengthen existing community
partnerships and build new ones for the department. “We believe that it sends a
strong message regarding our core tenets within suicide prevention,” he said.
“Number one, suicide is preventable. Number two, it will require a public
health approach, which means moving beyond just the clinical setting. “And
that’s going to require all of us. Now we’re able to back those tenets up with
specific funding through this grant.” About 17 veterans a day died by suicide
in 2019, the latest year for which data was available.
Grants will be awarded to
organizations that “provide or coordinate suicide prevention services,” which
includes clinical offerings, education programs, peer support services and
more. Miller said groups will be required to show evidence of their impact
throughout the process, to provide proof that they are helping veterans and
information for VA officials to use in future suicide prevention efforts. Department
officials will hold an application webinar next week to provide more
information for interested groups. Additional grant information is available on
the VA web site. Veterans experiencing a mental health emergency can contact
the Veteran Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 and select option 1 for a VA staffer.
Veterans, troops or their family members can also text 838255 or visit
VeteransCrisisLine.net for assistance.
^ By giving more money and aid to
different community groups across the US will only help those Veterans most in
need of it. ^
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