S. 1139 — HOPE for Heroes Act of 2025

This section modifies the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program—under which the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) awards grants to eligible entities (e.g., community organizations) for suicide prevention services such as screening, safety planning, and counseling for veterans at risk of suicide—and reauthorizes the program through 2030 (from 2025), as follows: (1) transfers coordination responsibility from the Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention to the Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Clinical Services; (2) increases the maximum grant amount to $1,000,000 (from $750,000), authorizes performance-based additional awards up to $500,000 per grantee per fiscal year based on intake numbers, and limits use of funds to no more than 30% for administrative costs and 5% for food and beverages; (3) requires grant recipients to coordinate with VA on plans for communicating with local suicide prevention coordinators about veterans' appointment attendance to ensure continuity of care; (4) requires training and technical assistance to include the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) and mandates VA employee training on the program; (5) requires quarterly briefings to personnel at VA medical centers within 100 miles of grant recipients to improve coordination; (6) extends program duration through September 30, 2030 (from three years after the first grant award); (7) adds to the interim report a description of VA compliance with employee training requirements; (8) provides that if VA does not deliver mental health care within 72 hours of a referral under the program, the veteran is eligible for emergent suicide care under VA's section 1720J authority; and (9) requires new grantees to use the C-SSRS for screening and authorizes grant funds for transportation and rideshare services for appointments.