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.
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Recommending adding how to reach the chat service mentioned on the first page.
- Chat online at https://www.veteranscrisisline.net/
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"In the past year, we have continued to provide backup support for the Veterans Crisis Line as they developed their second site in Atlanta to take on the growing number of veteran calls," says Dr. John Draper, Director of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. "In that time frame, we started with 1 of 3 calls rolling over to our centers, and we now see a ratio of about 1 for every 210 calls."