RAFT Suicide Prevention Programme — the State’s Own Prevention Effort
Resource Availability Family Tapestry, established in 2023, is the veterans department’s own suicide prevention programme for service members, veterans and their families, covering prevention, intervention and postvention, and working alongside the Governor’s Challenge team that has run here since 2020.
Verified August 23, 2026
What this benefit is
Resource Availability Family Tapestry, established in 2023, is the veterans department’s own suicide prevention programme for service members, veterans and their families, covering prevention, intervention and postvention, and working alongside the Governor’s Challenge team that has run here since 2020.
What it's worth: A state prevention programme, partner referrals, and a route into the Governor’s Challenge team
- The programme is named Resource Availability Family Tapestry and was established in 2023 by the veterans department.
- Its stated aim is a comprehensive approach aiding in the prevention, intervention and postvention of those at risk of suicide, for service members, veterans and their families.
- Its published goals are reducing the stigma associated with accessing mental health services, establishing and strengthening community partnerships, and educating community partners on identifying service members, veterans and families at risk.
- The programme partners with federal, state and local agencies.
- Separately, the Governor’s Challenge to Prevent Suicide among Service Members, Veterans, and their Families was launched federally in early 2019, and the department states an active team has run here since 2020.
- The department states it needs additional Governor’s Challenge team members, and names both health professionals and community and veteran service organisations as the people it wants.
- The department also signposts several nonprofits, including one in Wheeling providing emergency shelter, intensive case management, and rental and utility assistance.
- No page read this session attaches a payment, a grant or an entitlement to the programme.
Who is entitled to it
- The programme reaches service members, veterans and their families alike.
- Your home is in W. Va.
Not sure whether that describes you?
Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.
How to claim it
- 1In a crisis use the federal veterans crisis line first. This state programme is prevention and coordination; it is not a crisis line.
- 2Ask the department which local partner covers your county. The programme is built on community partnerships, so the useful answer is usually a name near you rather than a state office.
- 3Ask about the programme if a family member is the one at risk. Both this programme and the Governor’s Challenge are written to cover families, not only the veteran.
- 4Volunteer if you can. The department says in terms that the Governor’s Challenge team needs more members, and names veteran service organisations as the people who know the struggling veterans in their area.
- 5Ask about the emergency shelter and rental and utility assistance signposted alongside it if the crisis is housing or money — the department lists those separately from the clinical routes.
- 6A department benefits office is the practical door in; the service officers there are the department’s front line.
- Form
- No form — contact the department
- File with
- Department of Veterans Assistance
- No renewal
- Once granted it does not need renewing.
Sources
Why only one source type: The programme is the department’s own and is described only on the department’s page. No statute was reachable this session — the state code host refused every request.
This finder provides an informational match, not a government eligibility determination. The responsible agency decides your application.