Veteran advocates are calling on recently confirmed Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Doug Collins to investigate why the millions of dollars that the agency spends each year to prevent suicides has yet to significantly curtail the number of veterans who take their own lives.
The VA received an estimated $571 million for suicide prevention efforts in Fiscal Year 2024, which ran from Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024, and it requested even more money for this fiscal year, according to the VA’s latest budget request.
In a press release, Grunt Style Foundation, a veteran advocacy group, pressed Collins to look at how the VA’s suicide prevention funds are being used.
“We’re looking at 156,000 of our brothers and sisters that have taken their lives over the last 20 years,” Tim Jensen, president of Grunt Style Foundation, told Task & Purpose “That is just frankly unacceptable.”
The foundation has partnered with Veterans of Foreign Wars on looking at different ways to prevent veteran suicide, such as promoting alternative treatments for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other mental health issues that veterans face, said VFW spokesman Robert Couture. Both organizations also seek to reduce the stigma that veterans face when they seek mental help.
“We want to be really intentional about that, and we want to be more action-oriented in this partnership,” Couture told Task & Purpose on Monday. “We have these very clear objectives that we’re looking to focus on. It’s really to develop joint campaigns to educate veterans, their families, and the public about the importance of mental health and available support services.”
The VFW is the largest and oldest combat veterans service organization. The group along with the VFW Auxiliary have more than 1.4 million members. Grunt Style Foundation launched in 2021 and focuses on mental health, food security, and military transition and sustainment issues for troops, veterans, and their families.
The Grunt Style Foundation is spearheading the call for the VA secretary to investigate veterans suicide prevention efforts, Couture said.
“It’s about, really: Hey, what is the VA doing with the money and are they doing what’s smart and what’s best for veterans and not just continuing to throw money at a problem,” Couture told Task & Purpose. “What’s the results? That’s what they’re taking the lead on.”
Officials from the two organizations are scheduled to attend the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs annual hearing with Veteran Service Organizations at the end of February where they testify on issues impacting the veteran community.
Some of the topics that Grunt Style Foundation officials hope to address in front of Congress are issues that they have long advocated for, such as the overmedication of veterans by the VA and the lack of data around alternative therapies like hyperbaric oxygen therapy and veteran-centric community events like hiking for mental health treatment.
Suicide was the second-leading cause of death for veterans younger than 45 in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available, according to the VA’s annual suicide prevention report, issued in December.
There was an average of 17.6 veteran suicide deaths per day in 2022, compared to 16.5 suicides per day in 2001, the report states. The highest was in 2018, when an average of 18.4 veterans died by suicide each day.
A total of 6,407 veterans took their own lives in 2022, three more than in 2021, the report says. Of the suicide deaths in 2022, 6,136 were male veterans, an increase of 83 deaths over the previous year; and 271 were female veterans, 80 less than in 2021.
“The number continues to rise despite all of the actions, efforts and money and resources being put towards these things,” Jensen said. “At this point, I think it is just responsible for any member of this community to ask the pertinent question: where is this money going?”
“VA is dedicated to reducing Veteran suicide rates, but we can’t do it alone,” the VA’s suicide prevention website says. “Because roughly half of all Veterans in the United States don’t receive services or benefits from VA, we collaborate with partners and communities nationwide to reach Veterans where they are.”
The VA offers veterans a variety of services for those contemplating suicide including the Veterans Crisis Line, and the VA can cover the cost of health care for certain veterans at risk of harming themselves.
Overall, the average number of daily suicide deaths for all American adults, including veterans, rose from 81 per day in 2001 to 131.2 per day in 2022, the latest VA report on suicide prevention says.
If you’re thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, the Lifeline network is available 24/7 across the United States. Reach the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by calling or texting 988 and you’ll be connected to trained counselors.
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