DoDG AK Veterans Suicide Prevention Initiative
UEI Number: RP3DK9TUKW53
Primary Contact:
Dr. Zachary Hamilton - Lead Organizational Partner
Alaska veteran suicide rate in 2023 — double the national general population rate of 16.9.
Alaska's overall suicide rate — more than double the national rate of 14.2.
Veterans who died by suicide in 2023 were not receiving VA health care in the last year of their life.
Northern Alaska all-population suicide rate — among the highest recorded in modern U.S. surveillance.
Alaska veterans don't return to a stable baseline — they return to communities already in crisis, compounded by near-absent VA care, Alaska Native disparities, and a post-incarceration suicide window.
One VA Medical Center in Anchorage serves 58,910 veterans across 663,000 square miles. No VA facility of any type exists in the Northwest Arctic Borough. The nearest VA to Kotzebue is 549 air miles away — accessible only by air, with no road connections.
Even from Kenai, the Anchorage VAMC is a 158-mile drive each way. The structural conditions that produce the 61% of veterans not in VA care are extreme in Alaska — and fatal.
Alaska Native veterans experience 2–3× higher rates of suicidal ideation than non-Hispanic White veterans (OR = 2.68).
AIAN veteran suicide rate in 2021 — the highest of any racial or ethnic group, a 51.8% single-year increase.
Northwest Arctic Borough population — its 258 veterans sit at the intersection of every documented risk factor.
AI/AN people serve in the military at five times the national per-capita average — the highest service rate of any U.S. ethnic group — yet face the most severe suicide crisis and the least access to care.
Suicide risk after incarceration versus the general population (Council on Criminal Justice, 2024).
Veteran-specific attempt rate after release — 599.7 vs. 134.7 per 100,000 person-years (Barry et al., 2018).
Estimated veterans in AK DOC custody at any given time — largely uncounted because Alaska doesn't systematically identify veterans in custody.
~10% of Alaska's adult civilian population are veterans — fed by JBER, Fort Wainwright, and Eielson AFB. Suicide risk peaks 6–12 months after separation, reaching 85.2 per 100,000 at 3–6 months post-transition.
74.3% of Alaska Guard suicide deaths in 2021 involved a firearm — in a state with the nation's highest household firearm prevalence. Guard rates rose ~13% in CY2024.
"Drive to the VA," "show up to a weekly group," "go to the ER" — the assumptions baked into every evidence-based protocol — are physically impossible across much of the service area for much of the year.
Months of winter darkness, seasonal economic cycles, and physical isolation form an environmental backdrop that intensifies every individual risk factor — on top of a baseline already double the national rate.
Kenai Peninsula and Northwest Arctic Borough were chosen because a model proven in both has proven it can work anywhere in Alaska.
DoDG is a service-disabled veteran-owned, Kenai-anchored, Alaska-resident community-based organization. Rather than duplicating existing services, DoDG builds, trains, and coordinates the helpers veterans already trust — faith communities, correctional chaplaincies, tribal partners, VSOs, and behavioral health providers.
$750,000/year × 3 years = $2,250,000 total
To directly serve an estimated 190 veterans in Year 1, scaling to 240 by Year 3, plus families and trained gatekeepers.
- 40% previously VA-unaffiliated at intake
- 75% referred to VA upon engagement
- 85% of completers improving in at least one suicide-risk or well-being domain
IGNITE is the macro journey of a veteran through the network. Every component — outreach hubs, Hope Coaches, Battle Buddy Circles, digital tools — maps to one or more of these four stages. The fourth stage is the program's defining commitment: each restored veteran becomes new identification and engagement capacity.
Acknowledge service, story, and present struggle without minimizing. Trust is the prerequisite for goal ownership. Draws from Positive Identity Reconstruction literature.
Assess where the veteran is using C-SSRS, PHQ-9, and Adult Hope Scale, paired with an Asset-Based Community Development strengths inventory.
Co-design concrete next steps. Identify multiple routes around obstacles. Snyder's Pathways component: obstacles are not dead ends — there is always more than one way forward.
Sustained weekly contact, peer circle, and community. Hope is sustained relationally — not through a single planning session.
Hope = Agency ("I have the will") + Pathways ("I can see the ways"). Hopelessness — the absence of both — is among the most robust proximal predictors of suicide.
The Adult Hope Scale (AHS, α = .74–.84; r = −.51 with Hopelessness Scale) is administered at baseline and quarterly to test whether the program is working.
- Honor restores a damaged sense of worth and identity
- Orient surfaces existing strengths (agency seeds)
- Pathways manufactures visible routes where the veteran saw none
- Engage supplies sustained relationship that keeps agency alive when motivation falters
Snyder et al. (1991) — directly targets hopelessness, the proximal driver of suicide risk.
Comtois et al. (2019) — 48% reduction in attempt odds in active-duty military (JAMA Psychiatry).
"Sometimes the only way they'll allow themselves to access help" — Schmutte et al., Psychiatric Quarterly 2023.
42%+ of trained participants identified an at-risk individual and intervened within 6 months (QPR Institute).
Airman of the Year (2004), 43rd Fighter Squadron. Senior Airman Below-the-Zone (2006). 20% VA service-connected disability rating. SDVOSB controlling party.
Current Chaplain at Wildwood Correctional Complex, Kenai. Credentialed AK DOC chaplaincy access across all 12 Alaska state correctional facilities — the single most consequential institutional asset behind this application.
Designed and led recovery and reentry programs across a five-prison Texas DOC complex and Muskegon Correctional Facility (Michigan) — a 15-year through-line.
Executive Director of two nonprofit networks with annual budgets of $1–3M — the budget band directly comparable to this $750K/year award. Full executive responsibility for governance, financial management, and staff supervision.
Systemic team coaching engagement reaching over 4 million people across 9 nations — direct methodological analog to the multi-partner intermediary model proposed here.
Certified Executive Coach, Certified Career Coach (Center for Executive Coaching), EMCC Team Coaching Accreditation (Foundation + Practitioner), Systemic Team Coach (GTCI), Birkman Certified Professional.
Head Start Family Advocate across three programs (Louisville KY; West River Head Start, Mandan ND; ICAP, Sioux Falls SD). Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA), current Alaska service.
Credentialed therapeutic foster parent and adoptive parent of three Alaska Native children — six years of Alaska residential crisis care. B.A. Human Services, A.A. Early Childhood.
DoDG will not add one more direct-service program to Alaska's veteran care landscape. Instead, it will build, train, and coordinate a network of veteran-touching individuals and institutions — multiplying federal reach without proportionally multiplying federal spend.
- VFW Posts (Kenai, Soldotna, Homer, Seward), AmVets, American Legion
- Kenaitze Indian Tribe / Dena'ina Wellness Center
- Fellowship Network churches; Love INC
- Mykel's Restaurant (established community institution)
- Wildwood + Spring Creek Correctional
- VFW Post (Kotzebue); American Legion village contacts
- Maniilaq Association (11 communities)
- Tribal halls in each of 11 communities
- Behavioral Health Aides at village level
- Village-based Guard detachment contacts
~140 trained — faith leaders, restaurant/service staff, barbers, AJC staff, tribal council members.
~75 trained — AmVets, American Legion, VFW post leaders and members in both boroughs.
~15–20 trained — the full AK DOC chaplaincy corps, statewide.
~25 trained — AKNG armory leaders, family-readiness staff, TAP liaisons at JBER, Fort Wainwright, and Eielson.
DoDG anticipates Year-1 trainees will collectively make first contact with a minimum of 600 at-risk veterans, service members, and family members.
VRSS verification has identified up to 34% more veterans than self-report alone in states that adopted it (CCJ/NYU 2025). Dr. Zachary Hamilton's statewide AK DOC chaplaincy credential is the institutional asset that makes this pipeline possible.
Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale — VA-endorsed suicide risk stratification. Any positive for active ideation with plan triggers clinical-backstop referral within 24 hours.
Depression severity screening, administered monthly. Target: 40% of engaged participants achieve ≥5-point reduction in Year 1.
Snyder (1991) — baseline and quarterly outcome measure of agency and pathways thinking. Year-1 target: median +5-point increase at 6-month assessment.
Veterans Reentry Risk Assessment — reentry-specific stratification for Intensive Track participants entering from AK DOC custody.
For the highest-risk subpopulation: justice-involved veterans transitioning out of AK DOC custody and veterans in acute crisis. Capacity: ~30–40 veterans/year, ramping to 40 by Year 3.
DoDG chaplain + Hope Coach conduct in-facility intake at Wildwood, Spring Creek, Hiland, and Goose Creek. Baseline screening. HOPE process orientation begins. Caring Contacts activated Day 1.
Daily HOPE coaching; weekly Battle Buddy HOPE Circle; weekly Licensed I&F Counselor session; weekly job-prep workshop; monthly family touchpoint; ongoing chaplain support.
Weekly Hope Coach contact; continued Battle Buddy HOPE Circle; Caring Contacts maintained; transition to Community Track and Pay It Forward peer-leader pathway.
For veterans not in acute reentry/crisis — the model that scales statewide. Veteran identification at 6+ community contact points per borough. Hope Coach maintains caseload of ~25 veterans with weekly contact.
Veteran-to-veteran peer support groups: in-person in Kenai, Soldotna, and Kotzebue; phone/video for rural villages. Year 1: 4 in-person + 2 virtual circles. Year 3: 8 in-person + 6 virtual.
When the nearest VA is 549 roadless air miles away and the sound freezes for eight months, a phone in a veteran's hand may be the only continuous point of contact.
Mobile-friendly, low-bandwidth design for village conditions. Self-referral, Caring Contacts automation, one-tap crisis routing to live Hope Coach or Veterans Crisis Line (988, Press 1).
Delivers gatekeeper certification (250–300/year) and Hope Coach onboarding to the same standard regardless of geography. Village gatekeepers certify without travel.
Same veteran-led, Hope-Coach-co-facilitated model as in-person. A veteran moving between a village and a hub experiences one continuous community.
Coordinates the full Caring Contacts cadence — SMS, mailed postcards, voicemail — under 38 U.S.C. §7332 protections. Encrypted at rest and in transit.
Evidence base: Motto & Bostrom (2001) foundational RCT; Comtois et al. (2019) — 48% reduction in attempt odds in active-duty military (JAMA Psychiatry 2019).
C-SSRS positive for current ideation with intent, plan, or means access: Hope Coach activates Veterans Crisis Line (988, Press 1) in a warm three-way transfer and stays on the line until clinical handoff is confirmed.
Elevated risk with plan but no current intent: Hope Coach contacts clinical-backstop partner within same business day. Documented in CRM. Program Director notified.
Moderate risk, ideation without plan: clinical consultation scheduled within one business day; Caring Contacts frequency increased.
Integrated into every safety plan. All Hope Coaches trained in Alaska-specific firearm and medication safety counseling — a direct response to the 74.3% Guard firearm-suicide finding.
- HIPAA — all participant data and referrals
- 38 U.S.C. §7332 — enhanced SUD record protections
- Privacy Act of 1974
- 38 C.F.R. Part 78 — SSG Fox participant confidentiality
- 38 C.F.R. Part 50 (March 2024) — faith-activity firewall
Grant-funded services are programmatically and physically separated from any privately funded religious activities. No participant is required to attend or participate in any religious activity as a condition of receiving SSG Fox-funded services. Program Director conducts a compliance check at each quarterly review.
Goal development is the operational core of the HOPE process. Every Hope Coach interaction follows the Honor → Orient → Pathways → Engage arc. Goals are documented in the HIPAA-compliant CRM and reviewed at every weekly contact. Multi-path action plans include named support resources for each identified route.
Warm referral to AJC/DVOP specialists; supported job placement documented in evaluation outcomes.
VA benefits, disability rating, health enrollment — coordinated through Kenai Peninsula Borough VSO.
Partner recovery home for Intensive Track; emergent-needs fund for Community Track participants.
Battle Buddy HOPE Circle participation; family re-engagement via Family HOPE Lead.
When a participant is ready, becoming a gatekeeper or Circle co-facilitator becomes a goal in itself.
Program Director, CEO, and Gatekeeper Training Coordinator confirmed. HIPAA-compliant CRM selected. HOPE Academy LMS vendor selected. Pre-release protocol finalized with AK DOC. Hope Coach recruitments launched.
Hope Coaches #1 and #2 hired and onboarded. All staff complete C-SSRS, PHQ-9, ASIST, and QPR training. MOU with partner recovery home executed. First Wildwood pre-release cohort identified (~5 veterans).
Applichat, External Evaluator, and I&F Counselor engaged. HOPE Academy LMS live. Program mini-site live. First HOPE Watch session delivered (AK DOC Chaplaincy Cohort, 15–20 trained). Full compliance ramp operationalized.
By Year 3: 240 veterans directly engaged, 140 family members served, 500 cumulative gatekeepers trained, ~8,000 Caring Contacts touchpoints, and 30 cumulative Pay It Forward peer leaders credentialed.
Monthly coordination meetings; warm handoff protocol for VHA-eligible participants; reciprocal referral pathway; standing seat on Program Advisory Council.
Referral protocols with Anchorage, Kenai Satellite (Soldotna), and Wasilla Vet Centers. VJO Specialist coordination on the VRSS reentry pipeline.
All required SSG Fox grantee meetings; semi-annual program reports per 38 C.F.R. §78.105; participation in VA cross-grantee learning collaboratives.
Federally recognized tribe operating an IHS-affiliated wellness center. Documented prior working collaboration with both founders. Cultural integration for Kenai Peninsula service design and warm referral for Alaska Native veteran-family members.
Tribal health consortium serving the Northwest Arctic Borough. Dual role: AK Native cultural integration AND clinical backstop for the Kotzebue-anchored Hope Coach. One MOU, one trusted institution, delivering both cultural competence and licensed clinical depth.
Engineered for justice-involved and reentry veterans — entering through statewide AK DOC chaplaincy access and a structured Three-Tier Reentry Bridge.
Kenai Peninsula + Northwest Arctic (Kotzebue/Maniilaq) — reaching rural and tribal veterans beyond the Anchorage road system.
Purpose-built digital ecosystem (HOPE Academy LMS, telehealth bridging, gatekeeper-training scale) that closes Alaska's distance problem.
Catalytic intermediary model: ~$1,290 per individual touched. A force-multiplier effect an urban, staff-delivered direct-service model cannot match at the same spend.
An independent external evaluator (UAA Center for Behavioral Health Research / WICHE Mental Health Program) measures fidelity and outcomes against pre-committed targets, with a Year-2 peer-reviewed publication co-authored by the evaluator and program leadership.
Snyder (1991), α = .74–.84 — intake, 3-month, 6-month, 12-month. Primary quantitative indicator that pathways and agency thinking are being rebuilt.
Depression severity (monthly) and VA-endorsed suicide risk stratification (intake and any flagged contact).
Intake, 3-month, 6-month, 12-month — broad wellbeing tracking alongside clinical measures.
% scheduled contacts delivered on cadence — monthly. Target: ≥85% adherence in Year 1; ≥90% in Years 2–3.
# trained gatekeepers, chaplains, peer leaders; # warm referrals per cohort — quarterly.
Hope Coach standup (15 min); flagged-risk escalations to Program Director; participant-level case file review.
Program Director ↔ CEO leadership meeting; Program Director ↔ each Hope Coach 1:1; caseload and safety review.
Full-staff scorecard review; Applichat → Program Director → CEO budget review; External Evaluator dashboard QA.
Program Advisory Council review; equity/cultural fidelity review; outcomes disaggregated by AK Native/non-Native, rural/non-rural, justice-involved/not.
Every Hope Coach interaction documented against Honor / Orient / Pathways / Engage. Monthly random sample (10%) reviewed by Program Director against HOPE Process Fidelity Checklist.
Caring Contacts cadence tracking; QPR/safety-planning protocol adherence; C-SSRS and AHS administration adherence — all tracked monthly.
Quarterly review of outcomes disaggregated by AK Native/non-Native, rural/non-rural, justice-involved/not, gender, and age band. Any meaningful disparity triggers a documented remediation plan.
Any single metric below threshold: targeted coaching from Program Director within 5 business days.
Two or more consecutive thresholds missed: HOPE Process refresher and supervised observation within 30 days.
Persistent underperformance or serious participant-safety event: caseload reassignment; mandatory external clinical consultation; 72-hour after-action review.
Any program-wide target missed by >20% at mid-year: formal corrective-action plan filed with VA Program Officer.
- Semi-annual program reports — narrative and outcome data, externally attested
- SF-PPR submitted per award schedule
- Suicide event reporting per VA OSP requirements
- FFATA sub-award reporting where applicable
- Quarterly public dashboard summary (de-identified) on DoDG website
- Annual Program Report shared with all partners and AK DMVA
- Annual anonymous stakeholder feedback survey published in Annual Report
- Year-2 peer-reviewed manuscript submitted (Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior)
$750,000 per year × 3 years. Personnel at 41% reflects a lean 5.0-FTE direct-service team. Contractual (21%) includes Applichat, Licensed I&F Counselor, and External Evaluator. Travel (9.8%) reflects Alaska's geographic realities — bush flights are not optional.
Direct cost per veteran engaged across Intensive and Community Tracks (190 veterans, ~$525,000 allocated).
Cost per family member engaged through the Family HOPE sub-track (60 family members, ~$75,000 allocated).
Cost per lay gatekeeper trained (270 mid-point, ~$112,500 allocated).
Three-year blended cost per individual touched — amplified by force-multiplier network effect from 750 trained gatekeepers.
- Active SAM.gov registration (UEI RP3DK9TUKW53)
- CEP Vendor File Request submitted
- eGMS access established
- Written category (d) eligibility confirmed by SSG Fox SPGP Team, May 26, 2026
No individual originates, approves, and records the same transaction. Dual-signature authority on federal-fund disbursements above thresholds. Federal grant funds held in a dedicated DoDG bank account, reconciled monthly.
National federal-grant firm handles SF-425/SF-PPR, FFATA, drawdown preparation, and 2 CFR Part 200 compliance monitoring. DoDG reviews, approves, and is the final submitter of all output transmitted to VA.
Operating cash and accounts receivable from non-grant consulting cover routine payroll between drawdowns. Owner liquidity available for short-term needs. Any federal-payment delay beyond 60 days triggers written escalation to VA Program Officer.
Prior recovery-housing collaboration established mutual familiarity with tribal review processes, culturally appropriate engagement norms, and a working relationship that materially accelerates Year-1 launch.
Currently embedded as Chaplain at Wildwood with credentialed statewide AK DOC access. A 15+ year corrections-ministry through-line spanning Texas DOC (five-prison complex) and Muskegon Correctional Facility.
International Director with established faith-community network spanning the Kenai Peninsula statewide — the infrastructure behind the HOPE Watch Community cohort's ~140-trainee Year-1 target.
Prior catalysis of a recovery-housing program for vulnerable women on the Kenai Peninsula — establishing community relationships with the recovery-residential ecosystem that positions DoDG to execute the partner recovery home MOU in Month 1.
DoDG is Kenai-headquartered. Dr. Jim Hamilton individually owns and operates Mykel's Restaurant — a $1M+/year established Kenai institution providing donated in-kind meeting space for HOPE Watch trainings and Battle Buddy HOPE Circle gatherings. Veterans make up nearly 12% of the adult population in the Kenai Peninsula Borough.
The Northwest Arctic Borough is 80.7% Alaska Native with an all-population suicide rate of 84.7 per 100,000. The Maniilaq partnership solves the rural-Alaska scaling problem: one MOU, one trusted institution, delivering both AK Native cultural competence and licensed clinical depth. The 549-air-mile distance to the nearest VA makes Maniilaq not an amenity but an operational necessity.
"A single trained AK DOC chaplain serves simultaneously as a Reentry Bridge identifier, a HOPE Watch referral source, a Caring Contacts handoff facilitator, and a potential Battle Buddy HOPE Circle facilitator — four functions from one credentialed person in one facility."
Wildwood + Spring Creek → AJC/DVOP → Kenaitze cultural review → VFW step-down anchors → partner recovery home → regional BH backstop → UAA CBHRS fidelity tracking.
AK DMVA + Borough VSO (benefits) → AJC/DVOP (employment) → Kenaitze + Maniilaq (cultural) → VFW/churches/Love INC (hubs) → regional BH (clinical backstop).
AK DOC Chaplaincy Corps (15–20) + VSO cohort (75) + Community cohort (140) + Guard/transition cohort (25) = 250–300 trained gatekeepers feeding warm referrals into the HOPE Network.
The catalytic intermediary model converts each federal dollar into broader reach: a blended cost of roughly $1,290 per individual touched and a force-multiplier effect that an urban, staff-delivered direct-service model cannot match at the same spend.
Estimated first contacts made by Year-1 trained gatekeepers before any direct Hope Coach engagement is required.
Each trained gatekeeper is reasonably expected to recognize and refer 2–5 additional at-risk veterans over the grant period.
VRSS verification identifies up to 34% more veterans than self-report alone — closing the gap on Alaska's uncounted justice-involved cohort.
SSG Fox is renewable. The evaluation plan is specifically designed to produce Year-2 outcome evidence supporting a renewal conversation with VA OSP. Year-2 peer-reviewed manuscript submitted to Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior.
AK Mental Health Trust Authority Partnership Grant Program (next deadline ~August 15) identified as natural companion stream. DoDG will pursue in Year 1.
The trained AK DOC Chaplaincy Corps, HOPE Watch gatekeeper network, HOPE Academy LMS, and HOPE Process curriculum persist regardless of the federal grant cycle — sustaining reach after funding ends.
"Picture an Alaska where no veteran — on the road system, in a fishing town, behind the walls at Spring Creek, or in a village reachable only by bush plane — is ever more than one trusted relationship away from hope."
The Alaska Veteran HOPE Network is designed from the Arctic and the correctional anchor inward — placing trusted, trained human relationships, backed by digital reach, exactly where the convergence of risk is worst.
SDVOSB. Decorated USAF veteran (Airman of the Year 2004, 20% service-connected disability). Trust capital, cultural fluency, and lived-experience credibility this program requires.
Credentialed AK DOC chaplaincy access across all 12 state facilities — the institutional asset that powers the Three-Tier Reentry Bridge and statewide chaplaincy training.
Both co-founders reside in and are embedded in the service region. 15-year corrections through-line. 40 years family crisis work. Six years Alaska residential crisis care. Documented Kenaitze Indian Tribe working relationship.
Written category (d) eligibility confirmation from SSG Fox SPGP Team, May 26, 2026 — clearing the threshold-review question that would otherwise require independent legal determination.
$750,000/year · 3 years · $2,250,000 total · NOFO VA-FOX-SP-FY2027
A community-based suicide prevention program serving veterans in Alaska's highest-risk regions — the Kenai Peninsula and Northwest Arctic Borough.