Today, October 20th, 2021, Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-02) and Ruben Gallego (AZ-07), both veterans, introduced the Save Our Servicemembers (SOS) Act. This bipartisan and bicameral legislation would direct the Pentagon to evaluate the effectiveness of their suicide prevention efforts and to improve its data collection, reduce bureaucratic duplication, and strengthen collaboration between its offices.
This legislation is the House companion to legislation introduced by Senators Joni Ernst (R-IA) and Mark Kelly (D-AZ), who are both combat veterans.
“I am heartbroken at the continued rise in suicides in the veteran community. It is no secret that our servicemembers often face invisible challenges when they return to civilian life, and we must do a better job of addressing their needs,” said Miller-Meeks. “As a 24-year Army veteran and physician, I have seen the toll that war takes on many members of our military. We need to look into all of our mental health and suicide prevention programs to better service our heroes, and I am proud to partner with an incredible group of veterans in Congress on this legislation."
“We must ensure that the Pentagon is doing everything it can to protect servicemembers’ mental health and wellness long before their transition to civilian life. I know firsthand the trauma and stress servicemembers can face, especially when deployed in combat situations. These struggles have contributed to unacceptable increases in military and veteran deaths by suicide,” said Gallego. “To overcome this crisis, we need the Pentagon to take a serious look at its data and the programs it has in place to make sure servicemembers get the help and resources they need. That’s why I’m proud to join my fellow veterans in Congress on this legislation that I know will help save lives.”
“Our servicemembers carry out selfless duties every day to protect our nation and oftentimes they face serious and unique challenges. We cannot fail them,” said Ernst. “We need to put out the S.O.S. and get to the root of this alarming and disturbing trend. That starts with this straightforward, bipartisan measure directing the Pentagon to streamline their prevention efforts and to clean up collaboration within its own offices. These are simple steps that will save lives.”
“Military suicides are rising, and we have to confront this issue head-on. The Save Our Servicemembers Act takes important steps to prevent military suicides and would help ensure that servicemembers—our heroes in uniform—can access the support and mental health care they need,” said Kelly.
Background:
According to a 2020 Department of Defense (DoD) report, 580 servicemembers took their lives. This number represents a fifteen percent increase from the prior year. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20) directed the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review DOD’s suicide prevention programs.
GAO identified three areas that should be addressed to improve suicide prevention efforts:
- Non-clinical prevention efforts need to be assessed to determine effectiveness
- Inconsistent definitions could be impeding the ability to access and improve prevention programs
- A lack of proper coordination between offices is resulting in duplication and inefficient use of staff and resources
- Directing the Defense Suicide Prevention Office (DSPO) to collaborate with the military services to develop and implement a process to ensure that individual non-clinical suicide prevention efforts are assessed for effectiveness in the military population; and
- Requiring DSPO to collaborate with the military services to develop consistent suicide-related definitions to be used department-wide and require them to be used in the updated DOD and military service policies; and
- Improving collaboration between DSPO and the Psychological Health Center of Excellence on the production of the annual suicide reports to minimize duplication of efforts.
Original source can be found here
