A new regional program aimed at addressing staggering veteran suicide numbers is launching in Carbon County.

Officials from “Together With Veterans” met last week to discuss the prevention efforts and how community partners can play a key role in successfully supporting veterans and their families.

“We’re not looking to replicate any existing programs or serve as a nonprofit that’s going to do its own little thing,” said Jennifer Spitler, regional program outreach coordinator at the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs. “As a committee, we want to invest in programs that are working for the veterans community and build a network throughout the northeast Pennsylvania area to fund them and support them.”

According to data provided by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, utilizing five-year averages, Carbon County has the highest veteran suicide rate in the state at 27.2 per 100,000 residents.

“Knowing what I knew about Carbon County, that was a little bit alarming because there is such a great support system already established for veterans here,” Spitler said.

Christine LeClair took over as Carbon County’s director of veterans’ affairs in 2019 and, in the first year on the job, heard of eight county veterans who took their own life.

“There was one and I thought that was huge,” LeClair said. “So that really made me sit up and take notice. Then there was one the next month and then there were two more and wow, I couldn’t believe the numbers.”

Veteran suicide quickly became the number one concern for LeClair’s office and she welcomes the help a program like Together With Veterans can bring.

“We looked at doing something on our own here through the county and I met with the commissioners and we were going to try to reinvent the wheel and do trainings and things like that, but then when ‘Together with Veterans’ was offered, Jen got everything in place for us. I was absolutely thrilled because we certainly have an issue here. And it’s not only helping the veterans, but identifying them or just reaching them somehow.”

Part of breaking through when it comes to addressing veteran suicides, Spitler said, is shattering the stigma of talking about it out in the open.

“That’s the challenge I hear about constantly from veterans’ organizations is not knowing when there are issues with someone,” she said. “People don’t like to talk about their feelings. Constant contact and peer support is huge.”

Valor Clinic founder and CEO Mark Baylis said early detection is key when it comes to helping veterans.

“You want to catch it early when the social conflict problems are there like they are getting fired a lot at work or arguing too much with the spouse, you want to catch it then,” Baylis said. “Trying to juggle fragile glass when it’s too far along becomes really, really tricky.”

The local “Together With Veterans” committee is around a dozen members strong. The initiative was developed through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Rural Health.

“While it is a VA-funded program or initiative, it’s really unique in that it’s grassroots,” Spitler said. “They’re really hands-off in terms of letting us determine the need, determine how we want to address it, and build a coalition to do that.”