Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide

The new plan to prevent veteran suicides: new grants, better research, more community focus
Military Times

Military Times
By: Leo Shane III
March 4, 2019

Officials from the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee are scheduled to hold a roundtable with administration experts on the issue later this week. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee ranking member Jon Tester, D-Mont., introduced new legislation on the issue last week.

WASHINGTON — The White House is creating a new high-level task force on preventing veterans suicide which will include new community outreach grants aimed at former service members and expanded projects across a host of government agencies to coordinate research and prevention efforts.

President Donald Trump will sign a new executive order on the initiative — dubbed the President’s Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide, or PREVENTS — on Tuesday afternoon at the White House.

It’s the latest in a series of steps by his administration to address the problem, which claims an estimated 20 veterans lives every day. Last year, the president signed a separate executive order providing more counseling and mental health care for recently separated service members, who face a significantly higher risk of suicide than other military groups.

According to senior administration officials, the new order will give agency officials a year to develop plans for a more aggressive approach to suicide prevention, with a goal of more state and local community engagement.

The task force will look to develop a new grant system for mental health support and outreach similar to the Housing and Urban Development-VA Supportive Housing program, which provides funding directly to local charities and city programs to help individualize assistance plans for veterans.

The research work will also include pushing the Centers for Disease Control to provide more up-to-date information on veterans suicide research. Currently, the latest available data on the problem typically trails at least two years behind current efforts. Senior administration officials are hoping to cut that wait down to no more than six months.
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Gee, where did I hear this one before?

Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide

Trump reads staggering veteran suicide statistics 
President Trump signed an executive order aimed at creating a federal task force that will tackle how agencies can help prevent veteran suicides.

"Hard to believe an average of 20 veterans and servicemembers take their lives everyday..."

And that President Trump, is because it is NOT 20 A DAY but is much higher when the facts are actually put together!