The New Plan to Prevent Veteran Suicides: New Grants, Better Research, More Community Focus

March 29, 2019

News Type:  Weekly Spark, Weekly Spark News

Military Times

The U.S. government has announced a new initiative to prevent veteran suicide. A recently signed executive order creates a task force that will lead a number of prevention efforts, including the development of a strategy focused on state and local engagement. The task force will also develop a system for giving federal grants to communities, similar to the Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing Program. Using that model, the funding will help support veteran mental health and suicide prevention at the local level. The task force has also been called on to help coordinate research efforts across federal agencies. Officials hope that improving the collection and analysis of existing data could inform more effective prevention strategies.

Spark Extra! Learn more about veteran suicide prevention.