According to a 2013 study by the US Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA), every day about twenty-two veterans in the United States commit suicide, a rate that is approximately twenty percent higher than the USDVA 2007 estimate. The 2013 study indicates that more than two-thirds of veterans who commit suicide are fifty years old or older, suggesting that the increase in veterans' suicides is not primarily driven by those returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A 2011 chart issued jointly by the USDVA and Department of Defense states that more than half of veterans taking their own lives have never been deployed. In addition, more active-duty U.S. soldiers die from suicide than combat. Experts on mental health at the USDVA state that most people who consider suicide have problems they think they can never overcome. The purpose of this hearing is to examine the State's role and response to the increasing number of veterans who are at risk of committing suicides and methods to identify them in a timely way and to review and analyze the ways in which these vulnerable veterans can be connected to mental health services on a statewide basis. Furthermore the Committees are interested in examining current funding streams for programs aimed at providing mental health services to veterans, including federal funding and allocations made in the State Fiscal Year (SFY) 2013-14 Enacted Budget.

Persons wishing to present pertinent testimony to the Committee at the above hearing should complete and return the enclosed reply form as soon as possible. It is important that the reply form be fully completed and returned so that persons may be notified in the event of emergency postponement or cancellation.

Oral testimony will be limited to ten minutes' duration. In preparing the order of witnesses, the Committee will attempt to accommodate individual requests to speak at particular times in view of special circumstances. These requests should be made on the attached reply form or communicated to Committee staff as early as possible.

Ten copies of any prepared testimony should be submitted at the hearing registration desk. The Committee would appreciate advance receipt of prepared statements.

In order to further publicize these hearings, please inform interested parties and organizations of the Committee's interest in hearing testimony from all sources.

In order to meet the needs of those who may have a disability, the Assembly, in accordance with its policy of non-discrimination on the basis of disability, as well as the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), has made its facilities and services available to all individuals with disabilities. For individuals with disabilities, accommodations will be provided, upon reasonable request, to afford such individuals access and admission to Assembly facilities and activities.

Michael R. Benedetto
Member of Assembly
Chair
Committee on Veterans' Affairs

Aileen Gunther
Member of Assembly
Chair
Committee on Mental Health

Addie J. Russell
Member of Assembly
Chair
Subcommittee on Women Veterans

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Persons wishing to present testimony at the public hearing on military related suicides and the role of the State in reducing the rate among veterans are requested to complete this reply form as soon as possible and mail, email or fax it to: