The Not Just a Number Act requires the Veterans Affairs Department to publish annual reports on veteran suicide prevention, with the first report due within 18 months of enactment and subsequent reports by September 30 each year. Each report must analyze national veteran suicide rates broken down by age, gender, and race, and examine how veterans' engagement with VA health services, benefits programs, and other support systems correlates with suicide trends. The legislation also directs the VA to work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to create a toolkit for state and local coroners to better identify and report veteran suicides, and to study whether establishing a dedicated suicide prevention office at the department leadership level would improve coordination and outcomes. Within three years, the VA must submit a separate report analyzing which benefits and services are most effective at preventing veteran suicides and recommend potential expansions, with particular focus on evaluating the effectiveness of the Solid Start outreach program.
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