Arizona House Bill 2135 was introduced in the legislature last month with the aim to better account for veterans’ suicides. For some, this bill hits home on a personal level.
“Someone in my unit who recently got out committed suicide,” Air Defense Artillery Officer Lashondra Maddox-Phung said.
According to the National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report, an average of 16.8 veterans died per day by suicide in 2017.
House Bill 2135 will have the Department of Health Services compile an annual report on veteran suicide in the state. The bill was proposed by Rep. Jay Lawrence a few years back, said David Choate, one of the associate directors at the Arizona State University Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety.
“The bill is a misguided attempt to understand veteran suicide,” Choate said.
He said he doesn’t know what can be done to help veterans after the data comes out, and he doesn’t have an answer to what the benefits are in having a bill like HB 2135.
“The bill didn’t lay out a guideline and definition of what a veteran is,” he said. He added that the bill was made with good intentions, but legislation didn’t lay it out properly, and there is a minimal amount of guidance.
The bill requires the the Arizona Department of Health Services’s Vital Records division to gather and produce data, he said.
There haven’t been any negative effects from the bill, but it is otherwise unfunded outside of the record department’s routine duties.
Choate said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention-funded project called the Arizona Violent Death Reporting System collects detailed information on violent deaths, including suicide, homicide and accidental deaths. He also said they use death certificates and all relevant data to produce a report every year.
Between the years of 2015 and 2017, veterans comprised 21% of all suicide victims in Arizona, according to the Arizona Violent Death Reporting System.
Michael Anthony Arberry, a veteran and the student services manager at Scottsdale Community College, said he believes the bill could help the veteran community. He added that it’s hard to help when the exact numbers are not available.
“A person can have 99 good days, but it only takes one bad day to commit suicide,” Arberry said.
As a veteran himself, Arberry said he struggled with coming back to life outside the military. Having veterans around him who went through the same problems helped his healing.
He said there are 400 veterans on the Scottsdale Community College campus, and the staff tries to remind them that they are no different than anyone else.
“There is a different dynamic in Scottsdale, veterans have support here. They have their families and know what they want to do,” Arberry said. “People get caught up in the day-to-day at community college, but I like to make it more personal and help veterans integrate within the community.”
Retired Capt. Scott Clark understands what veterans struggle with, and he believes more veterans should ask for help. Most veterans don’t seek out counseling because they want to serve and don’t feel like they should take from anyone, he said.
“A lot of veterans self-isolate and think they are alone,” Clark said. “The bill would be good for the community because it can help identify issues that are leading to veteran suicides.”
He added that the military does not train a soldier on how to reenter civilian life. He said there needs to be a solid system in place to help people who are leaving the military.
Maddox-Phung agreed with the sentiment.
“It’s important for soldiers to have a plan after enlistment in order for them to live healthy lives outside of the military,” she said.
The house bill was passed in early February after the House’s third reading.
Contact the reporter at mferna35@asu.edu.
