Department of Defense appoints new director of Defense Suicide Prevention Office
WASHINGTON (KRDO) -- The Department of Defense (DoD) has appointed a new director for the Defense Suicide Prevention Office (DSPO).
Liz Clark, Ed. D., has been appointed to the position where she will be responsible for the development of DoD non-clinical suicide prevention programs that promote and enhance suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention with the goal of reducing stigma and increasing awareness to facilitate help-seeking behaviors.
According to the Dod, in this role, Dr. Clark will oversee non-clinical suicide prevention program development and evaluation, data surveillance, research, and outreach and engagement in support of more than 2 million Service members and over 2.5 million military family members worldwide.
The DoD said Clark brings more than 22 years of service in the federal government, including as an active-duty military officer. Prior to returning to DSPO as the Deputy Director, Dr. Clark was the Deputy Executive Director for the PREVENTS Task Force, created by Presidential Executive Order 13861, and charged with developing the first federally coordinated national public health strategy and roadmap to address Veteran suicide.
Clark served as an Army Officer in the Ordnance Corps and Adjutant General Corps and had a variety of assignments at the installation level, Army Staff, and National Guard Bureau.
The DSPO was established in 2011 and establishes a comprehensive, enterprise-wide policy on non-clinical suicide prevention and serves as the official DoD source for reporting on data related to suicides and suicide attempts of Service members, both Active Component and Selected Reserve (SELRES), and suicides of Service members' dependents, according to the DoD.
If you, or someone you know, needs help, support is available 24/7. Service members and their families can call Military OneSource at 1-800-342-9647, or chat at militaryonesource.mil. Service members, veterans, and their loved ones can also call the Military Crisis Line/Veterans Crisis Line at 988, press 1 or at 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1, chat at veteranscrisisline.net, or text to 838255. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available to anyone by calling 1-800-273-8255.
