Letter Urges DoD to Consider Alternatives to Fund NJ Veterans Suicide Prevention Program

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), led a letter to Defense Secretary Ashton Carter questioning the U.S. Department of Defense’s decision to terminate funding for the successful Vets4Warriors call center without considering any other alternative funding mechanisms to preserve the life-saving program. He was joined on the letter by Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Reps. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ-09), Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ-02), Bonnie Watson-Coleman(D-NJ-12), Donald Payne Jr. (D-NJ-10), and Donald Norcross (D-NJ-01).
“We believe that the DoD decision not to re-compete the Vets4Warriors contract was made without consideration for alternatives that would leave the program operational. Since the decision was made not to re-compete the contract that funded Vets4Warriors, we are asking that DoD consider all avenues of subcontracting opportunities for Vets4Warriors,” the members wrote.
In June, Sen. Booker introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to prevent the closure of the Vets4Warriors program, a Pentagon-funded call center operated by Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care in Piscataway, New Jersey, that provides members of the US armed forces with confidential peer support services administered by veterans. The amendment was not adopted by the Senate.
In May, Sens. Booker and Menendez joined U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09), Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ-06) Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ-02) and Tom MacArthur (R-NJ-03) in urging U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Secretary Ashton Carter to reconsider DoD’s decision to shut down the successful Vets4Warriors program.
The Vets4Warriors (V4W) peer helpline offers 24/7 live veteran support to veterans, active duty service members, and their families in a confidential environment. The program employs forty veterans and four licensed mental health clinicians. Since Dec. 2011, the V4W program has had over 130,000 contacts with service members and their families.