State, federal government investing in Missouri veterans’ mental health

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A wreath rested on the steps of a monument honoring Mizzou Tigers who died in battle during a ceremony at the University of Missouri ahead of Veterans Day.

The Missouri Veterans Commission’s annual suicide prevention report recommends more peer support and outreach in rural communities to help reduce veteran suicides in the state. Missouri has one of the highest veteran suicide rates in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Nearly 200 Missouri veterans die by suicide every year, according to VA data.

MU Veterans Center Director Nick Lanier said the best way to invest in veterans’ mental health is to invest in mental health resources for everyone.

“If you create an environment whereby seeking and receiving help is not taboo, you’re going to find more people seeking help and more people receiving help,” Lanier said.

Lanier also called for unity at the ceremony.

“In polarized times it’s important to remember that service to your country is neither Republican nor Democrat,”Lanier said. “It’s American because that is who we are and what we do.”

For some veterans, the challenges continue long after they come home. Seven out of every 100 veterans experience post-traumatic stress disorder, and thousands die by suicide each year.

Lanier said getting help was part of how he wanted to move forward in his life.

“For me it was a matter of understanding how I wanted to be better, how I wanted to move forward in my life and seeking out help,” Lanier said.

Lanier said his support system got him through the hardest times.

“My wife and I, before I deployed to Iraq the first time, she said to me, ‘Honey, if you come back a little different, you gotta promise me you’ll get help,’ and I held true to that because she could see me better than I could see myself,” Lanier said.

Suicide prevention report

The Missouri Veteran Commission’s 2026 report lists nine priority recommendations. They include a statewide veteran peer navigation and peer support program and rural veteran outreach teams.

The report said the VA reported 147 veteran suicide deaths in Missouri in 2023, the most recent year of data. It listed Missouri’s estimated rate at 37.5 per 100,000 veterans. The nationwide veteran rate was 35.2 per 100,000, according to the report.

The report said about 50% of Missouri’s estimated 392,041 veterans are enrolled in VA health care.

“Missouri does so many things to honor our veterans, especially on Veterans Day,” said Retired Col. Paul Kirchhoff of the Missouri Veterans Commission.

Federal grants for Missouri organizations

The VA announced Sept. 29 that it awarded $2,949,964 in grants to six community organizations that provide suicide prevention services to veterans in Missouri. The money is part of $112 million awarded to 191 organizations nationwide through the Staff Sgt. Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program. The funds become available at the start of fiscal year 2027.

According to the VA, 61% of veterans who died by suicide in 2023 were not receiving VA health care in the last year of their life. The VA said the grants direct funding to community-based organizations to help reach those veterans.

“Community organizations play a vital role in strengthening the support network available to Missouri Veterans,” said Paul F. Hopkins, medical center director of Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans’ Hospital. “These grants provide Veterans with lifesaving support and ensure they have access to the care and resources they deserve right here in our community.”

In 2025, about 17,000 veterans, service members and family members received services through grant recipients, a 31% increase from 2024, the VA said. The VA said 344 at-risk veterans were connected to emergency mental health care through the grants in 2025.

If you or a loved one needs help, call the mental health hotline at 988. For veteran-specific help, select option 1.