The Western News: Tester announces applications open for veteran suicide prevention grant

Following efforts from U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, the Department of Veterans Affairs is now accepting applications for the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program for fiscal year 2025. 

This first-of-its-kind grant program was created under the Senator’s landmark Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act (Hannon Act) to provide federal funding for local veteran suicide prevention programs.

“Mental health is one of the biggest issues facing our country, our state, and our veterans,” said Tester, Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “That’s why I’m proud to have championed this grant to help Montana suicide prevention groups connect our veterans with the life-saving services and resources they need closer to home. These community-based programs are critical in our fight to end veteran suicide.”

Montana organizations interested in applying for this veterans suicide prevention grant can access the grant application and find out more information about the program, eligibility and the award process at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/01/26/2024-01531/staff-sergeant-fox-suicide-prevention-grant-program-funding-opportunity.

Named for a Montana veteran who lost his life to suicide, Tester championed the Hannon Act in his capacity as the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee to bolster VA’s mental health workforce and increase rural veterans’ access to care through alternative and local treatment options. 

Among its many provisions, the law established the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program, a three-year community-based grant program to deliver financial assistance to organizations that provide or coordinate suicide prevention services for at-risk veterans and their families.

As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Tester secured $52.5 million in funding for this veteran suicide prevention grant program last year.

Organizations can apply for up to $750,000 in grants, which are renewable on an annual basis by application. Last year, he secured $2.15 million in funding for these Montana organizations under this grant program.

Tester secured funding for the following organizations providing veterans suicide prevention services across Montana in 2022 and 2023 as part of this groundbreaking program:

– $750,000 for Volunteers of America Northern Rockies, a statewide organization;

– $750,000 for Adaptive Performance Center in Billings and Helena;

– $650,000 for the Great Plains Veterans Service Center on Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation in Box Elder.

If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, contact the Veterans Crisis Line to receive free, confidential support and crisis intervention available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Dial 988, then press 1, chat online at VeteransCrisisLine.net/Chat, or text 838255.