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Missouri veterans director outlines suicide‑prevention programs; MAVO urges additional funding for veterans homes and service officers
Summary
John Sabala of the Missouri Department of Health described provider maps, QPR training, a wellness-champion pilot, the governor's challenge and faith‑community trainings to address veteran suicide; Missouri Association of Veterans Organizations told the committee recent funding shortfalls may force closures and urged more general‑revenue support.
John Sabala, veteran services director at the Missouri Department of Health, told the House Committee on Veterans and Armed Forces about statewide suicide‑prevention and veteran‑support initiatives, describing a mix of outreach, training and referral tools aimed at reducing veteran suicide and connecting veterans to care.
Sabala outlined several programs and resources. He said a web‑based interactive provider map lets users filter for military‑cultural competency and TRICARE acceptance to find local behavioral‑health clinicians. "It also can let them select if the person is military cultural competent, or TRICARE insured," Sabala said. He said the map had been pruned from roughly 240 to about 80 providers during an annual scrub but he expects the roster to grow to 250 or more by year’s end.
Sabala described the Missouri Veteran Suicide Prevention Team, a network of trained volunteer QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) instructors who deliver…
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