Several organizations that work to support U.S. veterans gathered for a conversation Monday in Cumberland County to discuss the increasingly prominent issue of veteran suicide.<\/p>\n
The latest data from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs reported 269 veteran suicides in Pennsylvania in 2023, a 16% increase from 2021.<\/p>\n
\u201cAddressing it requires more than any one organization can do alone,\u201d said Jeff King, the director of veterans\u2019 programs at the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA). \u201cIt requires collaboration. It requires awareness and a willingness to have an open and honest conversation.\u201c<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s roundtable was hosted at the American Legion State Headquarters by the DMVA and the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD). While work is being done year-round to address veterans\u2019 issues, this was held during Suicide Prevention Month.<\/p>\n
The DMVA received federal funding in 2025 to create the \u201cPlan. Pause. Protect.\u201d Campaign. The initiative works to connect veterans with mental health resources and educate about gun safety. Veteran firearm suicides increased 65% since 2001.<\/p>\n
Patti Tanner is the \u201cPlan. Pause. Protect.\u201d program manager.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe campaign also is just helping to educate not only veterans and service members themselves, but their family members, their community members, those people who are around them day in and day out, about the warning signs of suicide,\u201d she said. \u201cAbout how to approach these conversations because it\u2019s really uncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n
To encourage a person to take a pause, they create a photo reminder of their reasons for living.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe print photos for them of their reasons for living and then we have photo magnets and photo tags that people can then attach to their firearm cases or put on their firearm safe,\u201d Tanner said. \u201cSo that any time you go to access it, that reminder is there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first \u201cPlan. Pause. Protect.\u201d event was held in August in Greene County and another one is planned for Chester County in October.<\/p>\n
Jen Smith is deputy secretary of the office of mental health and substance abuse services within the Pa. Department of Human Services, which helps to develop and administer the state\u2019s suicide prevention plan.<\/p>\n
She said her office is working to get the word out about what resources are available and make sure local support services are in place for a person in crisis. Veterans can call the suicide and crisis hotline, 988, and then dial 1 for the veteran crisis line.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if you call 9- 8-8 and are in fact in the middle of a crisis with yourself or with a loved one, they can dispatch someone to come to the location that you are at and assist you,\u201d she said. \u201cWe also are working to fund walk-in centers. So individuals can actually have a place to go if they are experiencing a crisis other than the emergency department.\u201c<\/p>\n
Michael Leister, deputy director of the office of justice programs at PCCD, said it\u2019s important that those who respond to veterans in crisis are trained to treat them with compassion.<\/p>\n