Orange County will soon launch a new Veterans Suicide Prevention Pilot Program to help local veterans struggling with life changes or depression.
County Supervisor Katrina Foley announced July 1 her office had secured $500,000 for the program’s launching cost, and the county Board of Supervisor’s new budget covers $2.5 million dedicated to the program’s early intervention mental health services.
Originally proposed by Chase Wickersham—a Vietnam War veteran appointed by former county Supervisors John Moorlach and Michelle Steel to the Orange County Veterans Advisory Council—the program is aimed at addressing the “national crisis” of growing suicide cases among elderly veterans, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, a spokesperson of Foley’s office told The Epoch Times in an email.
“The pandemic exacerbated the isolation already prevalent. … The county must invest in outreach and engagement to identify and reach older, isolated veterans and connect them to services close to home,” the spokesperson said.
Their familiarity with firearms added to the suicide risk as well, Wickersham told The Epoch Times. Firearms were the leading cause of suicides in the county between January 2020 and May 2022, with 229 deaths, according to the Orange County Health Care Agency.
Program organizers hope to identify and reach underserved veterans, who tend to be older and socially isolated, to provide them with peer-oriented mental health services and break the cycle of isolation by connecting them with other veterans, Wickersham said.
“Veterans who are peers are much more likely to get a veteran to talk about what his current situation is,” he said.
Financial challenges can take a toll on the veterans’ mental health as well, he said.
“Our [veterans] population is kind of unique, because the cost of living in Orange County is extremely high, so our population is skewed to an older veteran’s population,” he said.
The program is expected to help connect people with several existing veterans’ services in the county, including mental health and housing services, according to Wickersham.
“They [program staff members] are going to go to the senior centers [and] … various programs where we can identify people that may not identify themselves as veterans,” he said. “Some veterans are reluctant, particularly younger veterans, are reluctant to go to the [Veterans Administration] for mental health support. They don’t want it to affect their future employment.”
The Orange County Veterans and Military Families Collaborative is one program that has been bridging veterans, service members, and their families with resources and services and may help the new program identify at-risk veterans, according to Wickersham.
He said the county has one of the largest veteran populations in the United States.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has more than 108,000 veterans from 2015 to 2019. The majority of them served in the Vietnam War era, followed by a smaller number who served in the Gulf War, Korean War, World War II, and other military operations.
Details of the program are still in the planning stages, and a launch date is not yet available, according to officials.
