HOPE for Heroes Act of 2025

The HOPE for Heroes Act of 2025 (S. 1139) would modify and extend the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program, a VA initiative aimed at expanding suicide prevention services for veterans. The bill increases the base grant cap, introduces a performance-based supplement, and strengthens program coordination, training, and oversight. It also expands certain protections and requirements around screening, emergent care, transportation, and liaison activities with local VA medical centers. The act would reauthorize funding through September 30, 2030 and broaden several definitions and procedures to enhance access to preventive and urgent mental health care for veterans. In short, the bill seeks to raise and better incentivize funding for community-based suicide prevention efforts, standardize screening (including Columbia Protocol/C-SSRS), improve care coordination and training, ensure transportation support, and extend the program’s authorization window.