releases: https://www.mcsally.senate.gov/mcsally-advocates-federal-local-partnership-reduce-veteran-suicide-rate
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://www.mcsally.senate.gov/mcsally-advocates-federal-local-partnership-reduce-veteran-suicide-rate | McSally Advocates for Federal, Local Partnership to Reduce Veteran Suicide Rate | 2019-12-04 | 2019 | 2019-12 | Republican | House | AZ | Martha McSally | M001197 | www.mcsally.senate.gov | legacy | U.S. SENATE U.S. Senator Martha McSally (R-AZ) today advocated for more federal and local partnerships to reduce the rate of veteran suicide. During a U.S. Senate Armed Services Subcommittee hearing to discuss servicemember, family, and veteran suicides and prevention strategies, McSally highlighted a success story from the Be Connected program in Arizona. I want to highlight a good news example in Arizona, said McSally. We have this Be Connected program. In 2017 it started and it's really working to connect veterans, servicemembers, families, whatever support they have that goes back not in the immediate crisis, but what happens earlier on that chain of events that happens. In rural Arizona, a disabled veteran called Be Connected and the question was Can someone help clean up after his pets?' In reality, once a volunteer showed up, they realized the pet was a barrier for him to get treatment for his substance abuse. But he didn't want to lose his dog. They were able to meet him where he was, ensure someone was going to be able to take care of his dog, while he went in and got the treatment he needed through a 28-day program. At the local level, with local volunteers, with federal support, we really could be empowering local communities to be the neighbor, be the friend, remove those barriers, and get people the care they need. McSally asked Acting Director, Suicide Prevention Program, Department Of Veterans Affairs, Dr. Miller: What else can we do, Dr. Miller, for these types of programs to incentivize them, especially for those vast majority of veterans who are taking their own lives but you don't even have them in the VA system? Dr. Miller: I was in Arizona two weeks ago and I was working with the [Be] Connected individuals and am very impressed by what's occurring thereThat's what I think we can work on together is combining the power and the resources at the federal and the local level realizing that at the federal level at the VA, we can't do it alone. Click HERE to download McSally's remarks. A study published by ASU just before Veterans Day noted that veterans in Arizona are over twice more likely to commit suicide compared to the rest of the state. The study also found that the female veteran suicide rate is three times the rate of non-veteran women. The nationwide rate for veterans is38 suicides per 100,000, compared with Arizona's 55. ### | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |