Sponsors (2)
The bill sustains and increases funding and coordination for veteran suicide-prevention efforts and adds flexibility and oversight tools for the VA, while trading off smaller per-grant awards, modestly higher federal spending, potential transparency loss, and some added administrative burden.
Veterans and people with mental-health/substance-use needs will continue to receive targeted suicide-prevention support because the program is reauthorized with $85 million for FY2026–FY2028 to fund grants.
VA medical center staff and local suicide-prevention grantees will have improved coordination because the bill requires at least annual briefings to VA centers about grantee activities.
Program management and adaptability may improve because the Secretary can add measures/metrics for accountability and consult a broader set of experts and organizations, potentially improving alignment and lessons learned.
Local veteran-serving nonprofits and community programs may have less capacity per project because the maximum individual grant size is reduced from $750,000 to $250,000, which could limit larger-scale or multi-year initiatives.
Taxpayers may face higher federal spending because the bill increases the overall authorization to $85 million for the reauthorization period, adding budgetary pressure absent offsets.
The removal of an explicit statutory role for the President’s Task Force in favor of broader consultative discretion could reduce transparency about which entities influence program design.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Reauthorizes and expands funding for the VA suicide-prevention grant program through 2028, lowers max grant size to $250K, adds accountability measures, and requires local VA briefings.
Official title: Amend the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act of 2019 to modify and reauthorize the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Introduced February 27, 2025 by Mark R. Warner · Last progress February 27, 2025
Amends VA law governing the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program to give VA more discretion in who it consults, reduce the maximum single grant from $750,000 to $250,000, add new measures and metrics for accountability, and require annual briefings to nearby VA medical center staff to improve coordination. The bill extends the program through September 30, 2028, raises authorized funding to $85 million for FY2026–2028, and makes a minor internal cross-reference correction.