President Barack Obama signs the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act, in the presence of Clay Hunt’s
family members, Congressional leaders, and representatives of the veterans community. (Official White House Photo)
COMBATING
VET SUICIDE
BY MAGAZINE STAFF
I
n an effort to make the
VA more responsive
to the mental health
and suicide prevention needs of veterans,
Iraq and Afghanistan
Veterans of America
(IAVA) led an 18-month
campaign that resulted
in the Clay Hunt Suicide
Prevention for American
Veterans (SAV) Act being
signed into law in February 2015. Once it is fully
implemented by the VA,
the Clay Hunt Act will:
• Require annual thirdparty evaluations of
VA’s mental health
care and suicide
prevention programs.
• Create a centralized
website with resources
and information for
veterans about the range
of mental health services
available from the VA.
• Require collaboration
on suicide prevention
efforts between VA
and non-profit mental
health organizations.
• Increase access to
mental health care by,
among other things,
creating a peer support
and community
outreach pilot program
to assist transitioning
service members as
well as a one-stop,
interactive website of
available resources.
• Better meet the demand
for mental health care by
starting a pilot program
to repay the loan debt of
students in psychiatry
so it is easier to recruit
them to work at the VA.
The legislation is named
for Clay Hunt, a decorated
Marine Corps infantryman
who served in Iraq and
Afghanistan. After leaving
the service, he struggled
with PTSD and survivor’s
guilt, yet dedicated his
time to serving others. He
helped earthquake victims
alongside other veterans in
Haiti and Chile with Team
Rubicon, and he became an
outspoken, active advocate
for veterans through his
work with IAVA and Ride2Recovery. Yet in his private life, he struggled to receive proper care from the
VA, having to wait weeks
for appointments and
months for evaluations. In
March 2011, at the age of
28, Clay took his own life.
This legislation is a fitting tribute to this fallen
Marine veteran. As President Obama stated at the
signing of the bill: “The
best way to honor this
young man who should be
here is to make sure that
more veterans like him
are here for all the years to
come and able to make extraordinary contributions,
building on what they’ve
already done for our safety and our security. Every
single veteran in America
has something extraordinary to give to this country
-- every single one.”
NOVEMBER 11, 2015
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