User:Far out mate/sandbox

Article Evaluation
United States military veteran suicide is relevant to my teams #22ADay movement we are currently evaluating. This page seems to have few indivduals who add substance to the page in terms of in-depth statistics and up to date findings. I found that the Background and Federal Budget were the most urgent to address. The background could include the Veterans Affairs (VA) 2019 Annual Report on Veterans suicides and the Federal Budget section could be updated with bills enacted in 2019 and their direct impact on veterans mental health issues. Beyond this, in the talks pages a user has a good point of contention of the determined statistic of 22 veteran suicides a day. I think at bare minimum the correction factors for survey error should be included in the page.

Link to talk page evaluation: Talk:United States military veteran suicide

Article 1
Link to article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_veteran_suicide

I found that the Background and Federal Budget were the most urgent to address on this wikipedia page. The background could include the Veterans Affairs (VA) 2019 Annual Report on Veterans suicides and the Federal Budget section could be updated with bills enacted in 2019 and their direct impact on veterans mental health issues. In addition, there is a proposed increase in funding for veterans in the 2021 budget outline. Beyond this, in the talks pages a user has a good point of contention with the determined statistics of 22 veteran suicides a day. I think that the range reported not just the average should be noted along with the known discrepancies in reporting.

Article 2
Link to article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/22_Pushup_Challenge

This article could be improved by going more in depth about the viral videos posted by certain celebrities. The article briefly mentions these topics, but adding more about how the exposure helped these movements, as well as information about money raised, would be very helpful. I also wish the article went more in depth about the possibility of earning an “honor ring”, which seems like an integral part of this campaign.

Article 3
Link to article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Suicide_Prevention_Week

National Suicide Prevention Week (NSPW) article can be expanded with more information on the specific cause the designated week is working towards, and what actions are taken in that week to bring awareness and improve preventative suicide measures. The section headed “The Trevor Project” is one good example in the article on a preventative measure taken against suicide. However, several other such examples can and should be made in the article. This article could also improve with the addition of background information into the establishment of the week, who established it, when, and why. The “Themes” section which lists each NSPW yearly theme has not been updated since 2012.

Article 4
Link to article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/22Kill

The 22Kill article could be improved by adding more information to the history section and including additional sections with information about the programs that 22Kill is involved with. It might be beneficial to include a section about the statistics of 22Kill (Ex: approximately how many families the organization has helped and how much money was raised). More information could also be added about the impact that the 22 Pushup Challenge social movement has had on public awareness about military veteran suicide rates.

Contribution Ideas
In this article I believe as stated above, that a more recent and robust set of budget data needs to be added. In addition, more recent VA reports pertaining to veteran suicide can be added. One contentious topic within the topic of veteran suicide statistics is the scope of the study conducted, the groups included in the studies and the margin of error in the data. I believe these are important to address to give a better understanding of how these figures are gathered and their limitations. Finally, in recent years there has been some controversy regarding the VA's handling of the veteran suicide crisis in regards to use of funds and overall outreach. These too are important to paint a dynamic picture of the ways in which the United States is addressing this crisis.

Additionally from my group project member:

I plan on adding some relevant information to this wikipedia article in the sections subheaded: causes, federal policy initiatives, and suggest an additional section on the VA's work specifically. Under causes I would add information from a current, recently published research book on Military Veteran psychiatric healthcare as it is related to suicide. I want to also elaborate on recent federal policy initiatives as the issue is discussed by the House of Representatives and reported in their House Hearing on Veteran and Active Duty Suicides in May 2019 and how the information in this hearing is also related to the budget and its effective or ineffective utilization in Washington. Finally, I would suggest a specific subheaded section for the VA to talk about the VA's role in suicide prevention for veterans, historically and currently.

Federal Policy Initiatives:
One of the first pieces of legislation to directly address Veterans' Suicide Prevention was the Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act (JOVSPA) of 2007, supporting the creation of a comprehensive program to reduce the incidence of suicide among veterans. Named for a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom who died by suicide in 2005, the act directed the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to implement a comprehensive suicide prevention program for veterans. Components include staff education, mental health assessments as part of overall health assessments, a suicide prevention coordinator at each VA medical facility, research efforts, 24-hour mental health care, a toll-free crisis line, and outreach to and education for veterans and their families. In the summer of 2009, VA added a one-to-one “chat service” for veterans who prefer to reach out for assistance using the Internet. Copied from

On August 31, 2012 President Obama signed Executive Order (EO) 13625 titled "Improving Access to Mental Health Services for Veterans, Service Members, and Military Families". The EO calls on the cooperation of the Departments of Defense, Veterans Affairs, and local communities to improve their mental health care services for military service members, especially during their transition into civilian life. The EO is written specifically to expand veteran suicide prevention and drug abuse efforts. Not only does it demand the Veteran Crisis Line's capacity be expanded by 50% by December 31, 2012, it also demands the VHA to connect any veteran in mental health crisis to a mental health professional or trained mental health worker within 24 hours of contacting the Veteran Crisis Line. In conjunction, this EO calls on the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense to work together to launch a year-long veteran suicide prevention campaign starting September 1, 2012 to encourage veterans to proactively reach out for mental health services.

In 2010, the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention was created and, in 2012, the National Strategy was revised. With Obama’s administration suicide prevention strategies for veterans expanded and a goal was formed to make the process of finding and obtaining mental health resources easier for veterans, work to retain and recruit mental health professionals, and make the government programs more accountable for the people they serve. Copied from

The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is a flexible care provider for veterans and their families because they can use their Veterans Affairs (VA) specific healthcare providers as well as private sector health providers to more efficiently provide care to veterans and their families who would struggle to attain care directly from the VA. However, the VHA can only provide care insomuch as they are equipped. In face of rising mental health disorders among veterans, the need for mental health care providers has greatly increased. In 2008, research from the RAND Corporation showed that of the 1.5 million veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq, 14% screened positive for post-traumatic stress disorder, 14% for major depressive disorder, and 19% for traumatic brain injury. Since numbers have only increased since this screening. To serve the veterans in need of mental health, President Obama issued an Executive Order to train and place an additional 1,600 mental health care providers in the VA by June 30, 2013.

The Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act became a public law on February 12, 2015. It requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to organize an annual third-party evaluation of the VA's mental health care and suicide prevention programs, to mandate website updates at least once every 90 days about the VA's mental health care services, to offer educational incentives for psychiatrists who commit to serving in the VHA, to collaborate with nonprofit mental health organizations with the goal of preventing veteran suicide, and to extend veterans' eligibility for VA hospital care, medical service care, and nursing home care. However, the limitations of this act are very restricting. Veterans can only access extended eligibility if they have been discharged or released from active duty between the years of 2009 and 2011 and if they have not enrolled in care during the five years following their discharge.

On March 5th, 2019 the Executive Order on a National Roadmap to Empower Veterans and End Suicide was signed. The purpose of this executive order (EO) was to call on the nation for their help with the fight against veteran suicides. The order points to a lack of coordination between entities rather than a lack of resources as being a key contributor to current veteran suicide rates. Due to this, the EO aims to establish coordinated efforts within suicide prevention, research and collaboration between the public and private domains. In-order to achieve these goals, an interagency task force was developed to create and implement a framework that addresses these issues at a national and community level.

In November 2019, the House of Representatives discussed a new program that would provide grants to local organizations that support veterans who are possibly overlooked by the Department of Veterans Affairs. The motivation behind targeting this demographic of overlooked veterans is that statistically, 14 out of the 20 estimated veterans and current service members who die from suicide every day are not in regular communication with the department of Veterans Affairs (VA). This proposal, pushed by the VA, was for a test program that was to last three years. However, this idea languished in Congress despite some bipartisan support as there was quibbling across party lines.

Federal Budget:
The 2018 federal budget expanded mental health screenings for veterans. Copied from

The VA federal budget has continued to maintain an upward trend for the last twenty years. Within the last decade alone, between 2010 and 2020, the VA budget has increased by 73.1% from $127.1 billion to $220.2 billion in total funding. One major health care provision within these budgets has been increased funding for mental health services and suicide prevention. In 2012, the proposed budget allocated $6.2 billion for mental health and $68 million for suicide prevention. In the approved 2020 VA budget, mental health services received $9.4 billion in funding while $222 million was devoted to suicide prevention. This yearly increase in funding is expected to continue, the 2021 budget proposal is requesting $243 billion in total funding with a $10.3 billion allocation to mental health services. Increases in funding have also been accompanied by expanded services within recent federal budgets. The 2018 federal budget expanded mental health screenings for veterans. This expansion includes required mental health screenings for all veterans with other-than-honorable-discharges prior to separation, and guaranteed mental health support for veterans who have experienced trauma while serving.

Protective Factors:
Despite these challenges, veterans often benefit from transitioning from the military into higher education. Academic life often requires student veterans to work and interact with other classmates. Many academic institutions have student veteran organizations and resources centers specifically to aid military veterans. Military education benefits, primarily the Post 9/11 GI Bill, pay the cost of tuition and provide a housing stipend to student veterans. Education benefits often give veteran students an income, a goal to continue to work towards and socialization with the general population.

Military education benefits often utilized by veterans include the Post 9/11 GI Bill, Montgomery GI Bill and Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment. These benefits cover tuition expenses up to a capped amount per academic year depending benefit utilized. In addition, a stipend for books, supplies and housing is also provided within these benefits.

Many non-profit organizations exist to promote awareness in local communities, such as Wingman Project and 22Kill. Copied from

Many non-profit organizations exist to promote awareness in local communities, such as Wingman Project and 22Kill. In 2013, 22Kill was started as a social media campaign to raise awareness about the staggering Veteran suicide statistics. By 2015, 22Kill had established itself as a 501c non-profit organization and soon after launched the viral #22Pushup Challenge. This movement helped them raise over half a million dollars and brought widespread attention to the Veteran suicide epidemic. During this time, 22Kill transitioned from awareness campaigns to suicide prevention offering a multitude of programs. These include clinical programs, non-traditional therapies along with family and community programs.

Response to user Millyphilip:
Thank you for thoughtful review of our article and potential content additions. Content: I absolutely agree that a "Social Policy" section is needed that will differentiate between federal policy changes and the movements influencing them. We are now planning to address this, in order to give a better background on how the federal policy initiatives came about and how they have been sustained. We will also be adding to the Federal Budget portion as you had mentioned, we are planning to compile a timeline to show funding trends and attempt to find any correlations in budget spikes to contemporaneous movements pertaining to veteran suicide. Tone and Balance: We truly appreciate the feedback in this section, while making additions it became easy to stray away from neutral language. We will be taking your advice and combing back through the article to make our language as objective as possible. We will also continue to keep this critique in-mind as we move forward with editing. Sources and References: We will continue to explore a more robust set of sources to further reinforce our content. Organization: As we continue to add content to the aforementioned sections, we will mirror the chronological nature of our federal policy initiatives section. Images and Media: This is something I had not considered as much, but I think a symbol of solidarity would be a great idea. We will be looking into potential media candidates for addition into the article. Overall Impressions: With your evaluation we will be sure to address the mentioned improvements in all future editing.

Response to user Parouz:
Thank you for your in depth evaluation of our article and additions. Lead: This is a great point, while our hashtag is #22ADay, cited figures as in this article often range in values around 22. We will absolutely implement an explanation for this difference in values. Content /Organization: We appreciate the positive feedback in this section and will next focus our attention on adding to additional sections of the article. This particular critique has been mentioned previously and wit that will become our main focus. TONE/BALANCE/NEUTRAL PERSPECTIVE: We will be going back through the article and our additions to address this. The specific examples you gave are incredibly helpful and will help us identify potentially biased language. This also will be a top priority as we move forward. SOURCES: For the future of our additions we will continue to add more diverse sources to help bolster the content of the page. MULTI-MEDIA: We will be adding the caption to the photo on the page and our currently seeking media to add as you had mentioned to help increase the impact of the content. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS: With your evaluation we and the other evaluations of our article it is clear that we need to turn our attention to adding to other sections within the article and address some of the language used. These evaluations will help us to continue to improve our article.