The Quick Connect Button is a proposed barrier-free crisis engagement utility designed to connect veterans to a live human in moments — no login, no stigma, no friction.
The highest-risk veterans — in the critical 10-minute crisis window — are the ones existing clinical pathways struggle to reach. The Quick Connect Button is developed for them.
The Quick Connect Button is a proposed crisis engagement utility designed to connect veterans to a live person in moments. When a veteran is ready to reach out — in whatever moment that arrives — the Quick Connect Button is there. No forms, no enrollment. A live human ready to listen and help.
Research shows that 48% of suicide attempt survivors report the decision to act occurred within 10 minutes.* In that window, the complexity of search links is too much. Log-ins, enrollments, navigating — it's too much.
The Quick Connect Button provides a low‑friction entry point for veterans who avoid traditional pathways because of stigma. It bridges the gap between a veteran in crisis and the care system — reaching those disconnected from traditional VA pathways.
Many veterans at high risk live beyond the reach of VA care — seeking help online, unenrolled in VA care, in rural communities, or disconnected from traditional pathways. The Quick Connect Button meets them where they are. We make it easy, low friction, for them to connect.
The Quick Connect Button is designed to meet veterans in the places they already are, with connection to care that is free of stigma, peer judgment, or being identified.
Channel sequencing modeling is part of the deployment strategy available to strategic partners.
Many of the highest-risk veterans are rural and disconnected from digital outreach. The Quick Connect Button is designed to meet them through physical signage in the everyday places veterans and their families already visit — high-traffic retail, healthcare settings, and trusted community and faith spaces.
Site-access partnerships and placement playbook available to strategic partners.
Despite two decades of substantial investment, existing pathways have not closed the gap between veteran and civilian suicide rates.
More than 60% of veteran suicides occur among those not enrolled in VA care. Rural veterans face acute behavioral health provider shortages. These are not veterans who rejected help — they are veterans the system has not reached.
The VA serves those already inside its system. Community care exists but is fragmented. What is missing is a low-friction, human-first entry point that meets veterans where they are — before crisis requires emergency intervention.
Federal attention on veteran suicide is at a historic high. The policy environment, data, and technology infrastructure exist today to deploy a solution at scale. What is needed is the strategic partnership to bring it there.
The Quick Connect Button was selected for a full proposal submission by Mission Daybreak, the VA's open innovation challenge. The proposal underwent a co-design engagement with Veterans Crisis Line subject matter experts — addressing privacy, clinical guardrails, and technology boundaries.
Veterans Health Support Alliance is seeking strategic partners to bring the Quick Connect Button to scale. We are looking for organizations that share our commitment to closing the gap between veterans in crisis and the human connection they need.
Michael Tepper is the lead architect of the Quick Connect Button initiative and Executive Director of the Veterans Health Support Alliance. He previously served as Senior Advisor and Director of Strategic Partnerships to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, advancing system-level initiatives across the VA.
In the private sector, he led ventures applying technology to behavioral health access — including co-designing a 5,000-veteran substance use disorder telehealth pilot with VA leadership — working alongside federal and state agencies, behavioral healthcare leaders, and investors.