JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A new report from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs shows veteran suicides dropped by 1% nationwide between 2019 and 2022.
The stats also reveal Florida has seen an even bigger drop and Northeast Florida is far surpassing both the state and the nation.
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Florida saw veteran suicides drop five percent between 2019 and 2022, while Northeast Florida saw a 27 percent drop.
That translates to 26 fewer local veterans who lost their lives to suicide compared to 2019, which was a year that saw a major spike in veteran suicides.
“And a number of veteran advocates got together and said ‘We’ve had enough of this,’” said Nick Howland, a Navy veteran and Executive Director of The Fire Watch, a local veteran help group founded in response to the spike in suicides in 2019.
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Howland, a Jacksonville City Councilman, explained The Fire Watch works to identify at-risk veterans in Northeast Florida and link them up with services to steer them away from suicide.
“There are tons of great services for veterans. The trick is getting veterans to those services, and we’re doing it here in Northeast Florida,” Howland said.
Howland said while the latest numbers are promising, they delivered some mixed news.
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Suicides are down compared to 2019, but 20 more Northeast Florida veterans lost their lives to suicide in 2022 compared to the previous year.
Howland said the increase was almost entirely driven by older veterans in Duval County.
“Probably driven by the financial crisis, inflation, and things like that,” Howland said.
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Howland explained The Fire Watch is already responding to the new data by steering efforts and resources toward places most likely to reach those in need.
“Over age 55 neighborhoods, churches, other organizations. Training them and their employees and their association members to be Watch Standers, so we can do our job to get those older veterans the help they need,” Howland said.
Because data on veteran suicide lags by two years, Howland said The Fire Watch is exploring new ways to help predict current and future trends, to help better respond to potential spikes in veteran suicide in real time.
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