Veterans Administration Suicide Prevention Summit

Dana February 2, 2016 211 and Resource Referral, Events, Helplines

Today the Veterans Administration is sponsoring a national summit on veteran suicide prevention in Washington, D.C.

From Under Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Dr. David J. Shulkin’s announcement of the summit:

The “Preventing Veteran Suicide – A Call to Action” summit will bring together VA and DoD leaders, mental health professionals, Veteran Service Organizations, Veterans and their families, and other key partners. These national leaders will direct their attention to how we can best help Veterans and their families access appropriate mental health services.

It will be an honor to welcome Susan and Richard Selke, as guests at the summit. Their son, Clay Hunt, was a Marine Corps Veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan who took his own life in 2011. Congress subsequently passed the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, which President Obama signed in February of last year. Their commitment to improving mental health care for Veterans like their son has been inspiring.

If you’re interested in following the discussion coming out of the summit, search #PreventVetSuicide and follow @DeptVetAffairs on Twitter.

Tags: suicide prevention, Veterans

Dana

Dana (She/Her/Hers) joined the iCarol team in 2013 after 12 years of direct service and administrative duties at a blended 2-1-1/crisis intervention/suicide prevention center. As the Communications and Social Media Manager at iCarol, you'll find her presenting Webinars, Tweeting, Blogging, Facebooking, and producing other materials that aid helplines in their work.