Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant

About the Program

The Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program  (SSG Fox SPGP) enables VA to provide resources toward 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. In alignment with 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. The grant program is part  of the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care  Improvement Act of 2019, signed into law on October 17, 2020. Click the Hannon Act Fact Sheet to learn more.

Congress has authorized $174 million to be appropriated to carry out  the SSG Fox SPGP, a three-year community-based grant program that  provides resources to community organizations serving certain Veterans  and their families across the country. Organizations can apply for  grants worth up to $750,000 and may apply to renew awards from year to  year throughout the length of the program. 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,  daily living services, personal financial planning and counseling,  transportation services, 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  child care

• Nontraditional and innovative approaches and treatment practices, as determined appropriate by VA

• Other services necessary for improving the mental health status and  well-being and reducing the suicide risk of eligible individuals and  their families as VA determines appropriate