VA Fixes Veterans Crisis Line

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 21, 2017

VA Fixes Veterans Crisis Line

WASHINGTON - In response to the recently released VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) report that reviewed processes from June 6 through December 15, 2016 of the Veterans Crisis Line (VCL), the Department of Veterans Affairs released the following statement:

The Department of Veterans Affairs is proud to announce that the challenges with the Veterans Crisis Line have been resolved.

Prior to the opening of our new Atlanta call center our call roll over rate often exceeded 30%. Our current call roll over rate is less than 1%, with over 99% of all calls being answered by the VCL.

“Suicide prevention is one of our highest priorities,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs David J. Shulkin. “Fixing the Veterans Crisis Line was a critical step in keeping our commitment to Veterans.”

To reach a trained VA professional who is specially trained to attend to emotional crises for Veterans and Servicemembers:

Dial the National Suicide Prevention Hotline number, 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Veterans should choose option 1 to reach a VCL Responder

Text 838255 - A VCL responder will text back.

Chat online at https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/