VA has published a correction to the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program (SSG Fox SPGP). The correction clarifies requirements regarding the provision or coordination of a baseline mental health screening to participants.
The requirement in 38 CFR 78.50(a) that “Grantees must provide or coordinate the provision of a baseline mental health screening to all participants,” including children, could present significant logistical and legal difficulties. VA is unaware of any validated tool that can be used by non-clinicians as a baseline mental health screening to assess suicide risk and mental and behavioral health conditions for persons under the age of 18. Consequently, VA will not require grantees awarded funds pursuant to this NOFO to provide or coordinate a baseline mental health screening to participants under the age of 18.
For more information, refer to the Federal Register :: Public Inspection: Funding Opportunity: Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program; Correction. Applications for the SSG Fox SPGP must be submitted by June 10, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Thank you.
V/r,
Kim
Kimberly M. Mitchell
Senior Advisor
VSO Liaison
Office of the Secretary
Department of Veterans Affairs