Highland Rivers expands, enhances veteran suicide prevention services
♦ The move is being funded through the VA’s Staff Sergeant Fox grant program.
From Highland Rivers Behavioral Health
Highland Rivers Behavioral Health is enhancing services delivered through its Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program, as the agency continues the second year of the program.
Highland Rivers received the SSG Fox SPGP grant in September 2022, with services focused on veterans in Cherokee and Pickens counties. Because Highland Rivers was funded during the very first round of the SSG Fox SPGP grant program, the agency has worked closely with the Veterans Administration as it seeks to standardize and enhance deliverables across all program grant recipients in order to best meet the needs of veterans, family members and communities. As part of its commitment to serving veterans, Highland Rivers is expanding the program into Cobb County during the second grant year, which began Oct. 1, 2023.
“Highland Rivers has always prioritized serving veterans — regardless of discharge status or ability to pay — and we remain steadfast in that commitment,” said Highland Rivers Behavioral Health CEO Melanie Dallas. “As we move forward with this important grant, we will have a stronger focus on education and outreach to our communities while continuing to provide clinical suicide screening, and peer and case management supports for eligible veterans through our Veterans Engagement Team.”
As it continues to work to bring consistency to services delivered by SSG Fox SPGP grantees, the VA has developed a list of service priorities, some of which Highland Rivers is already providing through the grant but all of which will be a focus going forward:
♦ Outreach to identify those at risk of suicide
♦ Baseline mental health screening for risk (required for participants ages 18+)
♦ Education on suicide risk and prevention to families and communities
♦ Provision of clinical services for emergency treatment
♦ Case management services
♦ Peer support services
♦ VA benefits assistance for eligible individuals and their families
♦ Assistance with obtaining and coordinating other benefits provided by the federal, state or local governments
♦ Assistance with emergent needs related to health care, daily living, personal financial planning, transportation, temporary income support, legal services, childcare and more that may contribute to the risk of suicide
♦ Other services necessary for improving individual mental health and well-being, and reducing suicide risk
The SSG Fox SPGP honors Parker Gordon Fox, who joined the Army in 2014 and was a sniper instructor at the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Moore (formerly Fort Benning), Georgia. Known for a life of generosity and kindness to others in need, Fox died by suicide on July 21, 2020, at the age of 25.
ABOUT HIGHLAND RIVERS
BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
Highland Rivers Behavioral Health is one of Georgia’s largest public safety net behavioral health agencies, providing comprehensive treatment, support and recovery services for adults, children, families and veterans affected by mental health disorders, substance use disorders, and intellectual developmental disabilities.
With an integrated continuum of services that includes crisis stabilization, outpatient, residential, community-based services and more, Highland Rivers Behavioral Health operates more than two-dozen treatment facilities across a 13-county, 4,700-square mile area of Northwest Georgia that includes Bartow, Cherokee, Cobb, Fannin, Floyd, Gilmer, Gordon, Haralson, Murray, Paulding, Pickens, Polk and Whitfield counties, and serves approximately 20,000 individuals annually.
Highland Rivers Behavioral Health is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities International and is a Tier 1 safety net Core Provider for the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities. For more information, visit highlandrivers.org online.