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March 2 (UPI) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs Thursday made more than $50 million dollars in grants available to help prevent suicide among former military members and their families. The $52.5 million in available grants will be awarded to community organizations on a local level, and they can be applied to things such as mental-health screenings, case management, peer-support services, and emergency clinical services.
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The grants are through the department's Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program. Individual organizations can apply for grants up to $750,000 annually.
Reducing suicide is a key priority for Veterans Affairs, with a goal to reduce the national veteran suicide rate by 20% by the year 2025, part of a 10-year plan.
The program is one component of the larger Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act, signed into law in October, 2020.
This marks the second round of grants issued through the program named after Fox. The sniper instructor in the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, Ga., died by suicide in 2020 at the age of 25.
This past fall, VA handed out the program's first year worth of grants, totaling $52.5 million to 80 organizations across 43 states.
Grant applications are due on May 19, with any money awarded to be used by September.
"Veterans at risk of suicide deserve quick and easy access to mental health screenings, peer support, emergency services, and more -- both from VA and community-based organizations," Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough said in a statement.
"There are countless great organizations across America that are providing veterans with this type of local, on-the-ground support, and we at VA are proud to support their efforts," McDonough said.
In January, the federal government mandated free emergency care at any healthcare facility for all U.S. military veterans experiencing a suicidal crisis. That changed the previous policy of requiring them to be enrolled in the Department of Veterans Affairs system to get free care.
