U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-AR), a senior member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, has received support from The American Legion for the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program. This initiative, which Boozman and Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) launched in 2019, is aimed at providing funding to organizations working on mental health outreach and suicide prevention among veterans.
The program’s authorization is scheduled to expire later this year. In response, Boozman and Warner have introduced legislation to extend its operation through 2028 and increase the maximum grant amount available.
Boozman highlighted recent findings from the Department of Veterans Affairs: “The VA recently released its annual Veteran Suicide Prevention Report. It shows that the veteran suicide crisis is continuing to rage. The report highlighted the success of the Staff Sergeant Fox Grant Program, making more than 24,000 referrals and 854 lifesaving emergency service connections.”
Cole Lyle, Director of Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation at The American Legion, emphasized the importance of community-based programs: “The success of the Fox Grant Program – over the years, we’ve seen the VA move closer and closer to the community, which is crucial because less than 50 percent of veterans use the VA. These types of programs [that] are local, that veterans trust, that provide that outreach and deal with the upstream factors of suicide like transportation, relationship issues, acute financial stress. We want to get to the veteran before there’s a critical mass of despair. Programs like that are really helpful.”
Last year, Boozman advocated for continued support for reauthorizing this program during a hearing with Department of Veterans Affairs officials. The grant program is named after Parker Gordon Fox, a former sniper instructor at Fort Benning who died by suicide in July 2020 at age 25.
Boozman serves on several Senate committees including Appropriations; Veterans’ Affairs; Environment and Public Works; and Rules and Administration (official website). He has also played a role in expanding care for women veterans and updating educational benefits under the GI Bill (official website). His district offices across Arkansas assist constituents with federal matters (official website).
