Sen. John Kerry's effort to prevent military suicides hailed by Lucey family

I wish I could have hope about this, but after all this time of reading suicide prevention bills and seeing such appalling results this one misses too much to have hope again.

Sen. John Kerry's effort to prevent military suicides hailed by Lucey family of Belchertown
By Fred Contrada
The Republican
December 12, 2012

NORTHAMPTON – It most likely would not have helped Army Capt. Roselle M. Hoffmaster or Marine veteran Jeffrey Lucey, but an effort by U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry and 33 other members of Congress to stem suicide in the military is being hailed as a step in the right direction.

Kerry and U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., co-authored a letter to the leadership of the Senate and House Armed Services Committee this week requesting an amendment to the National Defense Authorization bill allowing military commanders and mental health professionals to counsel members of the military about their personal firearms.

According to the letter, the bill, which specifically authorizes the acquisition and possession of private firearms by soldiers, has created confusion about whether commanders and counselors can have private conversations with service members who have guns and seem to be a threat to themselves or others.

The letter cites a dramatic increase in the suicide rate in the military, which rose by 18 percent from 2010 to 2011. According to the missive, a member of the military committed suicide nearly every day in 2012, a fatality rate that surpassed the number of troops lost in battle. Nearly three quarters of the military suicides between 2008 and 2010 were committed with a personal weapon, Kerry wrote.
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The means is not as important as the reason they commit suicide. Jeff Lucey hung himself. Others have used guns, but guns wouldn't be a problem if they didn't have a reason to use them. When will they ever address the failures that have produced such heartbreak?

Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Act

Sgt. Coleman Bean Suicide Prevention Act

Armed Forces Suicide Prevention Act of 2011

Senator Baucus sponsored another military suicide prevention bill

Senate Approves Amendment Forcing New Unified DoD Suicide Prevention Program
House Vote Pending
Posted on December 6, 2012
by The Military Suicide Report

Senate Passes Murray Measure to Reform Defense Suicide Prevention Programs
by Adam Ashton
The News Tribune, Dec. 5, 2012

The Senate this week passed an amendment that would reshape the Defense Department’s behavioral health and suicide prevention programs, compelling each service to adopt common practices.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., submitted the provision to the $631 billion defense authorization bill. Her amendment mirrors a bill she submitted in June.

“This is a major step forward in Congress really focusing on the issue of mental health of our service members, and it has not been done before,” Murray, the chairwoman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, said today.

Her proposal seeks to standardize the Defense Department’s varied suicide prevention programs. Each branch of the armed forces takes its own approach, according to a 2011 RAND Corp. study.

The Army, Navy and Marines lack formal policies to restrict troubled service members from obtaining lethal means, and none of the armed services offer guidelines describing the benefits of reaching out for help, according to the RAND study.

Murray’s amendment also takes steps to streamline the sharing of records between the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs; it encourages both the Pentagon and the VA to hire combat veterans as peer counselors for service members in behavioral health programs; and it expands access to behavioral health programs for the families of service members.

“It really is prevention,” she said. “It helps us by reaching out to the family members who are on the front lines, and the peer-to-peer counseling, which we know is a really important part, but is not part of the services today,” she said.