National Safeguard Initiative Against Veteran Suicide   5

06/12/2023- Amendment A0007 has been issued to add FAR Clause 52.204-27. All else remains unchanged.

6/1/2023 - Amendment 0006 has been issued to 1) Extend the proposal due date from 6/20/2023 3:00pm ET to 6/22/2023 3:00pm ET; 2) Update Section E paragraph (h) 3) Update Section E, Tab D; 4) Update Section E, Volume II and; 5) Update Section E, Volume IV as highlighted in the solicitation amendment.

5/30/2023 - Amendment 0005 has been issued to extend the proposal due date from 6/19/2023 3:00pm ET to 6/20/2023 3:00pm ET.

5/26/2023 - Amendment 0004 has been issued to 1) Reopen the solicitation to incorporate the changes to the highlighted sections 2) Change the applicable NAICS from 541618 to 541611 and 3) Update Attachment 1 - Creative Asset Products. Any offers previously submitted must be resubmitted in accordance with this solicitation amendment. Previously submitted offers will not be considered.

03/07/2023 - Amendment 0003 has been issued to provide answers to questions. Please see Q&A attachment.

02/23/2023- Amendment 0002 has been issued to provide an offer due date extension. A forthcoming amendment, A003, will provide answers to solicitation questions.

2/15/2023 - Amendment 0001 has been issued to update Attachment 3 - Key Personnel Spreadsheet. Amendment 0001 and applicable Attachment 3 - Key Personnel have been uploaded under "Attachments/Links." Attachment 3 - Key Personnel issued on February 9, 2023 must be deleted by any party who downloaded the attachment. Please send confirmation of deletion of Attachment 3 - Key Personnel issued on February 9, 2023 to the Contract Specialist and Contracting Officer listed in this solicitation.

2/15/2023 - Attachment 3 - Key Personnel Spreadsheet has been removed. A corrected version of Attachment 3 will be added via a formal soliciation amendment.

Suicide among service members and Veterans is a public health and national security crisis. Since 2010, more than 65,000 Veterans have died by suicide more than the total number of deaths from combat during the Vietnam War and the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. Women Veterans die by suicide at almost twice the rate than non-Veteran women, and from 2001 2020, the unadjusted suicide rate among Veterans between the ages of 18 and 34 increased by 95.3% (almost three times higher than non-Veterans the same age). Veterans are at increased risk in the 13 months following separation from active military service, and across multiple Veteran subpopulation groups: geographically remote Veterans, Asian American Pacific Islander Veterans, American Indian and Alaska Native Veterans, women Veterans, and LGBTQ+ Veterans, to name just a few. In the military, those under 30 years of age and enlisted service members are at heightened risk. As with the general population, among service members, Veterans and their family members, firearms are the most common method of suicide (71%) compared to non-Veteran U.S. adults (50%).

Suicide is preventable and Veterans are at higher risk for suicide compared to the general population. In 2020, the rate of deaths by suicide was 57.3% higher for Veterans than that of non-Veteran adults. As General Colin L. Powell stated in 1989, The nation owes a great debt to its Veterans, whose service to the nation spans every decade, every year, every day of our country's existence.

The Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) 2018-2028 National Strategy for Preventing Veteran Suicide outlines a broad vision for implementation of a public health approach to end suicide. In 2020, VA translated the vision offered in the 10-year National Strategy into operational plans via three mechanisms employed by the Veterans Health Administration (VHA): Suicide Prevention 2.0 Initiative (SP 2.0), Suicide Prevention Now initiative (Now), and the President's Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End a National Tragedy of Suicide (PREVENTS). Taken together, OMHSP maintains a crosswalk of SP 2.0, Now, and PREVENTS targets, objectives, and actions to ensure that each are clearly linked to the National Strategy for Preventing Veteran Suicide and are unique yet complementary and contributory to the mission.

The goal of this entire effort is to not only Reduce Military and Veteran Suicide, but to ensure we are reaching out, educating, partnering, studying, and communicating effectively across multiple lanes of effort, partnerships, and settings. OMHSP, SPP is seeking Industry Partner support to identify the current and future states of a robust, industry leading suicide prevention program that considers what is close to Veteran hearts, outlines potential hurdles, paints a complete picture, and designs a trusted legacy of care for our nation's finest volunteers.

In the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Fiscal Year 2018 2024 Strategic Plan, preventing Veteran suicide is identified as the highest clinical priority. The VA National Strategy for Preventing Suicide (2018 2028) and the White House Plan for Reducing Military and Veteran Suicide (release on November 2, 2021) provide additional guidance for implementation of a public health approach to end suicide.

In 2012, Executive Order 13625: Improving Access to Mental Health Services for Veterans, Service Members, and Military Families established the Interagency Task Force on Military and Veterans Mental Health. The early work of this Interagency Task Force had a specific emphasis on facilitating interagency collaboration, expanding staffing capacity at the Veteran Crisis Line, and joint development of a national suicide prevention campaign focused on connecting Veterans and service members to resources and support. Further, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has made mental healthcare access and suicide prevention a critical part of its strategic goals. Through early intervention and full access to mental health and suicide prevention services, VHA aims to lead the nation in caring for people with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and associated mental health challenges. This effort is aligned with President Biden's National Mental Health Strategy, which is taking executive action to address aspects of suicide prevention.

The White House Plan includes a VA charge to "create a Feasibility Analysis and Implementation Plan for broad implementation of evidence-based suicide risk assessment and safety planning within emergency care settings (emergency transport, urgent care, and emergency departments) throughout the United States." This differs significantly from the VA/DOD Clinical Practice Guidelines, which are designed to reduce treatment variation, address the needs of specific patient cohorts, and establish consistent quality standards across VA/DOD care settings.