Data Driven Suicide Prevention and Outreach Act of 2026

AI suicide risk grants for veterans

If enacted, the bill would require the Department of Veterans Affairs to set up a grant program through the VA Center for Innovation for Care and Payment. The Secretary would have to establish the program not later than one year after enactment. The program would be a pilot that ends on September 30, 2029. VA would award grants to eligible nonprofits, academic institutions, private research organizations, and similar groups to build AI models that predict suicide risk among veterans. The Secretary would select at least two grantees and could not pick more than one grantee from the same Veterans Integrated Services Network (VISN). Priority and selection factors would include geographic distribution, VHA facility complexity, veteran population density, proximity to VA facilities, collaboration experience, and ability to deploy at scale. Grantees would need to ensure models can integrate Veterans Benefits Administration records (including military service records) with Veterans Health Administration clinical data and agree to make models or findings available to the Secretary for VA-wide implementation and evaluation. Grantees would not be required to transfer ownership of models or proprietary technology. The bill would also define key terms such as "artificial intelligence," "veteran," "Veterans Crisis Line," and "VISN."