Michigan Secures Grant for Veteran Suicide Prevention, Growing Concern

The Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency is expected to receive a $750,000 federal grant, the maximum amount offered to a single group under a federal grant program, for services as part of a larger effort in recent years to raise awareness about mental health and prevent veteran suicides.

This week’s announcement came during Suicide Awareness and Prevention Month and as Congress considered other measures to combat veteran suicides, including a bill to provide safety deposit boxes. gun safes for veterans and calls to set up a hotline for veterans.

Veterans issues are likely to arise as presidential candidates seek votes and wrap themselves in the flag, and the two vice presidential candidates — Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio – are touting their credentials ahead of Tuesday’s prime-time televised debate. .

Brian Love, director of the state Veterans Affairs Agency, called the federal grant vital funding that, he said, in addition to raising awareness about mental health and preventing suicides from veterans, will also serve to alleviate veteran homelessness. The agency, Love added, is “extremely excited to accept this funding” from Staff Sgt. Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program for the third consecutive year.

Fox, an Army sniper instructor, committed suicide in 2020 at the age of 25.

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The grant program is part of more than a decade’s effort to understand how to combat veteran suicide, a growing problem that the White House has called a “public health and national security crisis,” adding that ” far too many of our nation’s veterans and service members have died by their own hands. »

In 2013, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs released a study of suicides from 1999 to 2010 and found that 22 veterans died every day. On average, that’s one every 65 minutes. Subsequently, some organizations began using the number 22 to emphasize the scale of the problem.

Three years later, perhaps due to prevention efforts, another study found that the average number of suicides had decreased to 20 per day; but in 2022, another study suggested that many suicides were overlooked and undercounted, and proposed a new estimate of 44 veterans per day, more than double the 2022 number.

In 2021, the White House outlined what it called a new strategy to reduce suicide among service members and veterans. This is a complex problem, with no single cause or solution, but it is preventable.

The White House report notes that since 2010, more than 65,000 veterans have committed suicide, a number exceeding the total number of combat deaths during the Vietnam War and operations in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.

Additionally, a Brown University study found that increasing rates of suicide among veterans and active duty personnel have outpaced those of the general population, which is “an alarming change, as suicide rates among military have always had lower suicide rates among military personnel.” the population in general. »

And in a separate statement this week, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George said the Army’s focus on suicide prevention was not just for September but ” something we practice every day and all year round.” The military has the highest suicide rate among military branches.

Research shows that veterans have a high rate of suicide because there are links between service and mental illness, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder and access to firearms. Nearly six in 10 gun deaths in the United States are suicides, according to the gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety.

To help prevent gun suicides, a bipartisan bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on Wednesday to provide veterans with gun safes, Military.com reported. The bill, according to the outlet, was endorsed by a gun industry group in addition to gun control groups.

And Stars and Stripes, a US military media outlet, reported this week that Senator Jon Tester, Democrat of Montana, had asked VA Secretary Denis McDonough to prioritize technical issues with a crucial hotline for the suicide of veterans, which caused at least a dozen servicemen. breakdowns.

The hotline has had problems since 2017, according to USA Today.

As for Michigan’s announcement this week, veterans – from any branch or service – and families of enrolled program participants are eligible to participate in the state program. For assistance, veterans can call the agency’s Michigan Veterans Resource Service Center at 800-MICH-VET or 800-642-4838.

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or [email protected].