Suicide prevention efforts of the VA
I wanted to give you all a heads up that Congressman Mitchell is having a hearing tomorrow morning to examine the suicide prevention efforts of the VA. The VA suicide prevention efforts that went into effect in 2008 have been proven successful, but there is worry that the efforts have stopped as of late – so the Congressman wants to know, if the programs are saving lives, why are they not continuing? This hearing was supposed to happen in April, but the Congressman postponed it because the VA wouldn’t send the witnesses or information requested.
The hearing, “Examining the Progress of Suicide Prevention Outreach Efforts at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs”, has been rescheduled for July 14, 2010, at 7 a.m. Arizona Time and 10 a.m. Eastern, in Cannon 334. If you would like to log on and watch the hearing online, here is a link to the Committee web site. http://veterans.house.gov
Go to the top left corner and click “live webcast.” It works best if you go to this site at or near the scheduled start of the hearing because it broadcasts in real time.
—Here’s some further background:
In 2007, Congressman Mitchell and the Veterans Affairs Committee began to examine the climbing suicide rates among Veterans. [Source: Mitchell Release, November 19, 2007] At the time, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) prohibited the use of TV advertising as a means to conduct outreach to veterans at risk for suicide. Mitchell, after months of investigating, called upon the VA to increase outreach to veterans who need mental health services and are at risk of suicide and reverse it’s long-standing self-imposed ban on television adverting. In 2008, the VA did so, and launched a nationwide public awareness campaign to inform veterans and their families about where they can turn for help. [CBS News, July 14, 2008]
The nationwide expansion of the VA’s public campaign has demonstrated success in saving lives. As of April 2010, the VA has reported that there have been over 7,000 rescues of actively suicidal veterans. Yet, despite this success, there has been concern that these outreach efforts have been removed. As a result, Mitchell, as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, called for a hearing to examine the progress of suicide prevention outreach efforts to veterans – many of whom are not being treated by the VA – who have committed or attempted suicide.
However, in April, Congressman Mitchell announced he had to postpone the hearing due to an emerging pattern of delays and non-compliance with subcommittee requests for witnesses and information by the VA. The subcommittee had requested Undersecretary for Health, Dr. Robert Petzel, and Assistant Secretary for Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, L. Tammy Duckworth appear to testify, but the VA refused to produce them. [Mitchell Release, April 26, 2010]
After the hearing was canceled, the AP ran a story [http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2010/apr/27/congressman-accuses-va-noncompliance/]and CNN’s American Morning had L. Tammy Duckworth on April 30, and discussed why wouldn’t attend Mitchell’s hearing. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YQJFrngYvY]
Corey Harris
Veterans Outreach Coordinator
Congressman Harry Mitchell (AZ – CD5)
7201 E. Camelback Road, Suite 335
Scottsdale, AZ 85251
480-946-2411
fax 480-946-2446