VA Zero Suicide Demonstration Project Act of 2025

New suicide-prevention pilot for veterans

This bill would require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to set up a Zero Suicide Initiative pilot within 180 days of enactment. It would run at five VA medical centers, including one that primarily serves rural and remote veterans. The Secretary would identify 15 candidate sites within 180 days and select the final five sites within 270 days. The first year would be for planning and site development. Each site would pick 5 to 10 staff leaders who would complete at least ten weeks of education using the Zero Suicide Institute curriculum. Staff leaders would do an organizational self-study, attend a two-day academy, plan data collection, inform local staff of the adopted suicide-care approach, give a workforce survey to all local staff, and update screening, assessment, treatment, electronic health record use, and care-transition processes. The VA would report to Congress annually, starting not later than two years after the program starts, and would track screening, lethal-means counseling, referrals, safety-plan completion, emergency and inpatient psychiatric use, suicide attempts, and suicide deaths. The pilot would end five years after it starts, and the Secretary would be able to extend it up to two more years with at least 180 days' written notice to Congress. The bill does not set specific funding amounts and would not change taxes or federal benefit rules.