The Window Is Open: VA Begins Accepting Suicide Prevention Grant Applications

The application window for the VA’s Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program opened yesterday, April 13, and community organizations across the country now have until 4:59 p.m. Eastern on June 12 to compete for a share of up to $112 million in funding.

The program funds community-based suicide prevention services for veterans, service members, and their families: proactive outreach, mental health screening, case management, peer support, benefits assistance, and lethal means safety support. New applicants can request up to $750,000 for a one-year program with the possibility of renewal.

The VA’s own guidance tells applicants the work cannot be rushed. Organizations need an active SAM.gov registration, an ID.me account tied to an organizational email, and a vendor file with the VA before they can even open the application, steps the VA warns can take weeks. The agency also says it prioritizes funding for rural areas with high veteran suicide rates and for organizations that can reach veterans not currently connected to VA care.

Both of those priorities describe North Central West Virginia precisely. Our region is rural, it carries one of the heaviest veteran suicide burdens in the country, and the majority of veterans lost nationally each year were not in recent VA care when they died.

The Eight Fifty Committee has said it before and will keep saying it: this program has never had a West Virginia-headquartered grantee, and that needs to change. The clock is now running.