Organizations that will be able to qualify include incorporated private institutions or foundations; a corporation wholly owned or controlled by an incorporated private institution or foundation; Indian tribes; community-based organizations that can effectively network with local civic organizations, regional health systems, and other settings where eligible individuals and their families are likely to have contact, and state or local governments.

Grants will be awarded to organizations that provide or coordinate suicide prevention services for individuals and their families that are eligible, 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

The term “eligible individuals” includes a person at risk of suicide who, in general, served in the active military, naval, or air service and was discharged therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable as described in 38 U.S.C. 101(2), former Service members with other than honorable discharge status described in 38 U.S.C. 1720I(b), and those who served on active duty in a theater of combat operations under 38 U.S.C. 1712A(a)(1)(C)(i)-(iv).

Congress has authorized $174 million to be appropriated to carry out the SSG Fox SPGP. 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.

The CFR for the SSG Fox SPGP can be found here.

Congress has authorized $174 million to be appropriated to carry out the program for fiscal years 2021–2025. Certain regulatory, financial, and administrative tasks must be completed before grants are awarded.

VA may prioritize grant awards to organizations that focus on areas with limited access to medical services, in rural communities, on tribal lands, in U.S. territories, in areas with a high number or percentage of minority Veterans or women Veterans, or in areas with a high number or percentage of calls to the Veterans Crisis Line.

For more information, contact us at VASSGFoxGrants@va.gov.

The Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program (SSG Fox SPGP) Guide is available for download here as a resource for applicants to the SSG Fox SPGP Program, SSG Fox SPGP grantees, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) staff members and other interested third parties involved in the SSG Fox SPGP Program.

The purpose of SSG Fox SPGP Program Guide is to provide an overview of the Suicide Prevention Services for eligible individuals and their families. This Program Guide has force for oversight, auditing, monitoring and program review purposes.

The guidelines provided in this Program Guide are intended to be consistent with SSG Fox SPGP Program, the interim final rule, regulations (38 CFR Part 78), other applicable laws, Executive Orders, Title 2 of the Code of the Federal Register Part 200 (2 CFR 200) and VA regulations. Guidelines should not be construed to supersede, rescind or otherwise amend such laws, Executive Orders, 2 CFR 200 and regulations.

Each grantee tailors its programming to meet the local community’s needs, and this may include offering of faith-based programming.

Per an amendment to 38 C.F.R. part 50 published on March 4, 2024, by July 2, 2024, all SSG Fox SPGP grantees who serve eligible individuals under a SSG Fox SPGP-funded project must provide written notice to participants and prospective participants of the following:

1. Grantees may not discriminate against a SSG Fox SPGP participant or potential participant based on religion, a religious belief, a refusal to hold a religious belief, or a refusal to attend or participate in a religious practice.
2. Grantees may not require participants to attend or participate in any explicitly religious activities (including activities that involve overt religious content such as worship, religious instruction, or proselytization) that may be offered by their organization, and any involvement by SSG Fox SPGP participants in such activities must be purely voluntary.
3. Grantees must separate in time or location any privately funded explicitly religious activities (including activities that involve overt religious content such as worship, religious instruction, or proselytization) from activities supported with direct Federal financial assistance.