CARNEGIE, PA — Today, Navy and Iraq War veteran Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) announced a $750,000 grant for the Veterans Leadership Program of Western Pennsylvania, Inc. to conduct veteran suicide prevention work across Western Pennsylvania. This grant comes from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program (SSG Fox SPGP).
The Veterans Leadership Program of Western Pennsylvania, Inc. award of $750,000 will go towards its veterans suicide prevention work in: Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Centre, Clarion, Clearfield, Crawford, Erie, Fayette, Forest, Fulton, Greene, Huntingdon, Indiana, Jefferson, Lawrence, McKean, Mercer, Somerset, Venango, Warren, Washington, and Westmoreland Counties.
“This country has a solemn duty to stand up for the people who served in uniform—and that includes doing all we can to fight back against America’s veteran suicide crisis,” said Congressman Deluzio. “I am glad that more funds are coming to support my fellow veterans here in Western Pennsylvania. It is through investments like this one, community support, and policy changes in Congress and the VA that we can help save the lives of our nation’s veterans.”
The Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program (SSG Fox SPGP) is a VA grant program to give resources toward community-based suicide prevention efforts to support veterans and their families through outreach, suicide prevention services, and connection to VA and community resources. Working in alignment with the VA’s National Strategy for Preventing Veteran Suicide (2018), this grant program assists in further implementing a public health approach that blends community-based prevention with evidence-based clinical strategies through community efforts.
Congress has allocated $174 million for the SSG Fox SPGP, a three-year community-based grant program serving veterans and their families across the country. Organizations can apply for grants worth up to $750,000 and grants will be awarded to organizations that provide or coordinate suicide prevention services for eligible individuals at risk of suicide and their families that qualify, including:
- Outreach to identify those at risk of suicide
- Baseline mental health screening for risk (required of all grantees for participants ages 18+)
- Education on suicide risk and prevention to families and communities
- Provision of clinical services for emergency treatment
- Case management services
- Peer support services
- VA benefits assistance for eligible individuals and their families
- Assistance with obtaining and coordinating other benefits provided by the federal government, a state or local government, or an eligible entity
- Assistance with emergent needs relating to health care services, transportation, daily living services, personal financial planning and counseling, temporary income support services, fiduciary and representative payee services, legal services to assist the eligible individual with issues that may contribute to the risk of suicide, and childcare
- Nontraditional and innovative approaches and treatment practices, as approved by the VA
- Other services needed to help improve the mental health, support the well-being, and reduce the suicide risk of eligible veterans and their families
This grant announcement follows Congressman Deluzio’s introduction of a new bipartisan bill, the Saving Our Veterans Lives Act. This proposal—supported by organizations across the political spectrum—would build off a successful pilot program and would give free gun lockboxes to veterans through the VA.