David Carroll, PhD, is presented with a Presidential Citation for his life-long leadership and commitment to ensuring veterans have access to the highest quality mental health and suicide prevention services.
Throughout his more than 30-year history of service, Carroll’s experience and achievements as executive director of the Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention (OMHSP) at the Department of Veterans Affairs have been stellar. He oversaw numerous organizational changes, including the transformative realignment of mental health programs, suicide prevention services, and the Veterans Crisis Line into the centralized organization known today as the OMHSP. His contributions have allowed for the vast expansion of mental health programs and services across the Veteran’s Health Administration, the largest healthcare system and the largest single training program for psychologists in the United States.
During his tenure as executive director of OMHSP, Carroll led significant advances in the development and implementation of mental health and suicide prevention policy, business operations, and strategic planning. As part of this vision, he designed and implemented a national community engagement program that sought to build a network of support for veterans by engaging external partnerships and community stakeholders. He led the VA in adopting a National Strategy for Suicide Prevention which has focused on upstream suicide prevention efforts aimed at supporting whole health, engagement, and purpose in life. He advanced access to care by leveraging technology in creating regional telehealth sites, and most recently, oversaw the initial roll-out of a new electronic health record across the entire VHA enterprise. Improving access, modernizing care delivery, and advancing the quality of mental health services provided to veterans will be one of Carroll’s lasting legacies in the VA.
Carroll’s qualities as a visionary and strategic leader are only matched by his fierce advocacy for veteran well-being and employee engagement. On multiple occasions, he provided testimony to Congress as VA’s mental health and suicide prevention subject matter expert and representative. He also served as executive sponsor for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) activities and initiatives. He has demonstrated courageousness and served as a role model for other VA leaders during challenging times, establishing resources for VA mental health providers from marginalized backgrounds, and demonstrated a commitment to allyship by integrating DEI into the work both internally, and in numerous OMHSP activities across VA.
Carroll has led the OMHSP with integrity, thoughtfulness, and dedication. Because of his commitment both to employee engagement in the United States’ largest mental health care system and to improving, expanding, and sustaining excellent mental health services for our nation’s warriors, it is my honor to award David Carroll, PhD, with this 2022 APA Presidential Citation. Please join me in thanking him.