VA announces $112M grant opportunity to strengthen community-based suicide prevention efforts

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs today announced a $112 million grant funding opportunity for organizations that provide suicide prevention services to Veterans across the country.

Grant funding is available to nonprofit organizations, state and local governments, federally recognized tribes and other community-based organizations that have a demonstrated capacity to serve Veterans. These funds are made available through the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program, and grantees have until June 12, 2026, to apply.

"These grants invest directly in communities that know Veterans best and are often the first to recognize when someone is struggling," said VA Secretary Doug Collins. "They have been successful in connecting Veterans, service members, and their families - especially those not yet engaged with VA - to services that help reduce suicide risk and promote well-being."

For details about eligibility, priorities and application requirements for this year's Fox grant awards, visit https://grants.gov/search-results-detail/361498. VA also offers technical assistance and application resources, including webinars and guidance materials at MentalHealth.VA.gov/ssgfox-grants.

Background:

In 2025, Fox grants supported more than 17,000 Veterans, service members and family members - a 31% increase from 2024. This includes nearly 9,000 Veterans with an elevated risk for suicide, 91.8% of whom reported a decrease in risk factors after getting help from Fox grant recipients.

Additionally, more than 2,500 Veterans enrolled in VA health care for the first time in 2025 as a result of their interaction with grantees, a 43.7% increase from 2024. Since the launch of Fox grants in 2022, VA has awarded $210 million to 111 organizations across 46 states, U.S. territories and tribal lands.

Sixty percent of the Veterans who die by suicide were not in VHA care at any point in the two years prior to their death. That's why VA has taken steps to enroll new Veterans at VA. In 2026 so far, VA has enrolled more than 76,000 Veterans into VA health care.

That's just one of many landmark VA achievements during the second Trump Administration, including:

1. Opening 33 new VA health care facilities, expanding health care access for Veterans around the country.
2. Reducing the backlog of Veterans waiting for VA benefits by 63% since Jan. 20, 2025, after it increased 24% during the Biden Administration.
3. Completing 82,083,918 direct care appointments in FY2025, up 4.1% from FY2024.
4. Offering Veterans more than 2.2 million appointments outside of normal operating hours, giving Veterans more timely and convenient options for care.
5. Permanently housing 51,936 homeless Veterans across the country in FY2025, the highest total in seven years.