{"id":39978,"date":"2019-06-26T18:52:23","date_gmt":"2019-06-26T18:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/06\/26\/vas-top-suicide-prevention-official-departing-in-july\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T07:40:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T07:40:27","slug":"vas-top-suicide-prevention-official-departing-in-july","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/veterans\/2019\/06\/26\/vas-top-suicide-prevention-official-departing-in-july\/","title":{"rendered":"VA\u2019s top suicide prevention official departing in July"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Veterans Affairs\u2019 top <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/06\/19\/veterans-suicide-prevention-efforts-will-include-more-discussions-on-firearm-safety\/\" target=_blank>suicide prevention<\/a> official will leave that post next month as the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/04\/19\/as-suicides-at-va-hospitals-increase-congress-wants-more-answers\/\" target=_blank>congressional focus on the department\u2019s efforts<\/a> continues to increase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr. Keita Franklin, who has served as the National Director for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2018\/09\/26\/suicide-rate-spikes-among-younger-veterans\/\" target=\"_blank\">Suicide Prevention at VA<\/a> for the last 18 months, will step down from the job in July. Officials said the move was not related to any issues with her office\u2019s performance but instead based on other career opportunities outside of VA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dr. Matt Miller, the current director of the Veterans Crisis Line, will fill the post in an acting capacity until a permanent replacement is selected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a statement, department leaders praised Franklin for her work in the last few years, giving her credit for \u201ckey successes\u201d in improving mental health care for veterans. Prior to joining VA, she served as the Defense Department\u2019s top suicide prevention official.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/04\/25\/recent-series-of-campus-suicides-raise-complicated-questions-for-va\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"288\" height=\"193\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/baypines.jfif_.jpg?w=288\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Recent series of campus suicides raise complicated questions for VA<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Three veterans died by suicide at VA medical sites in six days, but the department has seen an overall decrease in campus suicides in recent years.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cUnder her leadership, VA instituted a public health approach to suicide prevention, developed the first ever national strategy for veteran suicide prevention, significantly bolstered private sector partnerships, and garnered commitments from mayors and governors to implement broad community-based programs to prevent veteran suicide,\u201d the department statement said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But Franklin\u2019s tenure was also marked by increasing concern among lawmakers and advocates about the effectiveness of VA programs, as updates to annual data saw little change in the rate of suicide among veterans in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/veterans\/2016\/07\/07\/new-va-study-finds-20-veterans-commit-suicide-each-day\/\" target=_blank>About 20 veterans<\/a> and one active-duty servicemember die by suicide each day, according to the latest research from the department. But those numbers lag by about two years because of national death statistics collection, leading to questions about the impact of recent programming changes at the department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/04\/25\/recent-series-of-campus-suicides-raise-complicated-questions-for-va\/\" target=_blank>At least 24 suicides have occurred on VA campuses<\/a> in the last 20 months, several in public areas. But department officials insist that the suicide rate at those clinics and hospitals has actually decreased in recent years, even as visibility of the problems has risen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last fall, lawmakers blasted the department after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/2018\/12\/18\/va-left-suicide-prevention-funding-unspent-report-finds\/\" target=\"_blank\">the Government Accountability Office<\/a> found that more than $6 million in suicide prevention and mental health support outreach funds went unspent by the department in fiscal 2018. Officials blamed that mistake on leadership changes at the department in prior months, including the firing of former VA Secretary David Shulkin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Earlier this year, President Donald Trump announced plans for a government-wide task force, led by VA. on the issue of preventing veterans suicide. Trump called the issue a failure of the country to repay military members sacrifices. The group\u2019s final recommendations are expected next spring.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/03\/05\/the-new-plan-to-prevent-veteran-suicides-new-grants-better-research-more-community-focus\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4018590.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">The new plan to prevent veteran suicides: new grants, better research, more community focus<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The president will sign a new executive order on Tuesday creating a task force with a deadline of one year for aggressive new solutions to the problem.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Both Shulkin and current VA Secretary Robert Wilkie have publicly stated that reducing the number of veterans suicides nationwide is their top clinical priority. At a Senate hearing on the issue last week, Wilkie hailed Franklin as a leading expert on suicide prevention and a dedicated public servant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThere is no person in this country who has done more to raise awareness and fight what is a terrible but preventable tragedy in this country (than Franklin),\u201d he said<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Miller has served as the Veterans Crisis Line director for the last two years. The program has expanded in recent years to three sites which field more than 1,700 calls each day. Since 2007, the hotline has worked with local emergency services aid veterans facing an \u201cimminent crisis\u201d more than 93,000 times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Veterans experiencing a mental health emergency can contact the Veteran Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 and select option 1 for a VA staffer. Veterans, troops or their families can also text 838255 or visit <a href=\"http:\/\/veteranscrisisline.net\/\" target=_blank>VeteransCrisisLine.net<\/a> for assistance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The move leaves a leadership gap at VA at a time of increased focus on the department&#8217;s outreach and mental health efforts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":38551,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":19,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,12,25,67,19],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3226],"class_list":["post-39978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-veterans"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"BOPXTJ2I3BCIBNNCTHK2O2LEZ4","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2019\/06\/26\/vas-top-suicide-prevention-official-departing-in-july\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - 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