National Association of Counties
On March 2, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced the availability of $52.5 million in grants to community-based organizations that provide and facilitate suicide prevention services for veterans and their families. The opportunity is the second round of grants awarded through VA’s Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program (SSG Fox SPGP), which funds community-based suicide prevention efforts to meet the needs of veterans and their families through outreach, suicide prevention services and connection to VA and community resources. Other services under SSG Fox SPGP may include baseline mental health screenings, case management and peer support services, education on suicide risk, VA benefits assistance and delivering emergency clinical services.
County governments are directly eligible for funding under SSG Fox SPGP. Applications are due by May 19, 2023 and awards will be granted by Sept. 30, 2023 with the funds to be used by the selected organizations in Fiscal Year 2024.
According to the Notice of Funding Opportunity, VA will prioritize awards for entities with existing SSG Fox SPGP grants, rural counties, medically underserved areas, counties with a high number of minority and women veterans and areas with a high number or percentage of calls to the Veterans Crisis Line. In 2022, VA awarded grants totaling $52.5 million to 80 awardees serving counties across 43 states and directly funded Oneida County, New York and Harris County, Texas with $750,000 each.
Counties support the continuation of VA programs aimed at ensuring veterans and their families receive comprehensive mental health and suicide prevention services. NACo strongly encourages our members to apply for SSG Fox SPGP funds.
More information regarding eligibility, application requirements, review and selection process and key contact information can be found here.
<p>The Veterans and Military Service Committee engages NACo and its members to develop and highlight county best practices and policies to promote innovative programs, services and benefits for our nation’s military, veterans
