The state of Michigan receives a grant to prevent veteran suicide, which is a growing concern
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The state of Michigan receives a grant to prevent veteran suicide, which is a growing concern

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The state of Michigan receives a grant to prevent veteran suicide, which is a growing concern

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The Michigan Agency for Veterans Affairs will receive a $750,000 federal grant – the highest amount offered by a single group under the federal grant program – for services as part of a broader effort in recent years to raise mental health awareness and prevent suicide among veterans .

The announcement was made this week during Suicide Awareness and Prevention Month, as Congress was considering other measures to reduce veteran suicides, including a bill to provide firearms drop boxes for vets and calls for the establishment of a Veterans Affairs suicide hotline.

Veterans issues are likely to come to the fore as presidential candidates seek votes and wrap themselves in the flag, with both candidates — Democratic Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota and Republican Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio — touting their credentials ahead of Tuesday’s primetime televised debate.

Brian Love, director of the state Veterans Affairs Agency, called the federal grant essential funding that he said, in addition to raising awareness about veterans’ mental health and suicide prevention, would also go toward reducing veteran homelessness. The agency, Love added, is “extremely excited to accept this funding” from Sgt. Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Fellowship Program for Third Year in a Row.

Fox, a military sniper instructor, died by suicide in 2020 at the age of 25.

More: Social media reports of political violence in Michigan are causing public concern

The grant program is part of an effort over more than a decade to understand how to help address veteran suicide, a growing problem that the White House has called a “public health and national security crisis,” adding that “far too many veterans in our country and service members died at their own hands.”

In 2013, the United States Department of Veterans Affairs released a study on suicides from 1999 to 2010 and found that 22 veterans died per day. On average, once every 65 minutes. Subsequently, some organizations began using the number 22 to emphasize the scale of the problem.

Three years later, perhaps as a result of preventive measures, another study found that the average number of suicides had dropped to 20 per day; but in 2022, another study found that many suicides were missed and undercounted, and provided a new estimate of 44 veterans per day, more than double the 2022 figure.

In 2021, the White House outlined what it called a new strategy to reduce suicides among soldiers and veterans. It concluded that the problem is complex and has no single cause or solution, but is preventable.

The White House report indicated that more than 65,000 veterans have died by suicide since 2010, a number that exceeds the total combat deaths in the Vietnam War and operations in Iraq and Afghanistan combined.

Moreover, a Brown University study found that the rising suicide rate among both veterans and active-duty personnel outpaces the rising rate in the general population, which is “a concerning development because suicide rates among military members have historically been lower than suicide rates among the general public.”

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

Research shows veterans often commit suicide because of links between service and mental illness, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder and access to firearms. According to the gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety, nearly six in 10 gun deaths in America are suicides.

To prevent gun suicides, a bipartisan bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on Wednesday to provide veterinarians with gun lockers, Military.com reports. The bill was approved by a firearms industry group as well as gun control groups, the news site reported.

US news site Stars and Stripes reported this week that Sen. Jon Tester, R-Montana, has asked Virginia Secretary of State Denis McDonough to prioritize fixing technical problems with a key veteran suicide hotline that have caused at least a dozen intervention outages.

According to USA Today, the hotline has had problems since 2017.

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

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

Website https://www.ce-machecoul.fr

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