# VA Zero Suicide Demonstration Project Act of 2021

This bill creates a special program within the Department of Veterans Affairs designed to test new approaches for preventing suicide among veterans. The VA will run demonstration projects at selected medical facilities to try out different strategies for identifying veterans at risk of suicide and connecting them with mental health treatment before a crisis happens.

The program focuses on veterans who use VA healthcare services and aims to reduce suicide rates through early intervention and better coordination of mental health care. The demonstration projects will test various methods like screening programs, peer support initiatives, and improved follow-up care for veterans who have had suicidal thoughts or attempted suicide. By running these projects at specific VA locations, the government can see what works best before potentially expanding successful approaches across the entire VA system.

The bill requires the VA to track how well these programs work and report back to Congress on the results. This means measuring whether the new approaches actually help prevent suicides and improve veterans' mental health outcomes. The goal is straightforward: use what we learn from these test programs to save veterans' lives by catching people in crisis earlier and getting them the right help faster. For veterans using VA healthcare, this could mean better access to mental health services and more proactive outreach if they're identified as being at risk.

VA Zero Suicide Demonstration Project Act of 2021

Rosen, Jacky

VA Zero Suicide Demonstration Project Act of 2021 This bill requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish the Zero Suicide Initiative pilot program for the purpose of improving safety and suicide care for veterans. The program must be implemented at five VA medical centers, including one that serves veterans in rural and remote areas.