AI-driven suicide risk prevention that identifies the root causes of veteran depression and anxiety — and connects them to local resources that match their individual profile. 100% anonymous. Zero barriers.
The Department of Veterans Affairs purports universal screening for veteran suicide risk. But a finer examination reveals a glaring caveat: only veterans who engage with in-person VA care are actually screened.
For many reasons — including the VA being embroiled in numerous public scandals since at least 2014 over neglect, long wait times, and poor services — roughly 6.84 million veterans have never engaged with the VA at all and, by extension, were never screened.
Worse still, Department of Defense data indicates that suicide prevalence is highest within this unscreened population — the very group the VA has deemed "forgotten."
Current approaches are passive: they wait for veterans to come to them. Veterans face additional barriers including warrior culture that suppresses help-seeking, distrust of the VA system, fear of career repercussions, and the stigma of admitting vulnerability.
of all US veterans are never screened by VA's Risk ID system. Out of roughly 18 million veterans (2020), that means over 6.84 million fall outside the safety net entirely.
U.S. Census Bureau & Vespa, 2020; Wang et al., 2021The rate of veteran suicide is more than double that of civilian counterparts, according to the VA's 2023 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Report.
VA Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, 2023of individuals experiencing depression or suicidal ideation had not received treatment — driven by stigma, lack of confidentiality, and fear of repercussions.
Garlow et al., 2008increase in the US suicide rate between 1999 and 2019. In 2020, suicide was the 12th leading cause of death overall — and as high as the 2nd among those under 44.
Hedegaard et al., 2020; NIMH, 2022ROOTS uses AI to identify the root causes of each veteran's depression and anxiety — individually, not generically — and connects them to validated local nonprofits. 100% anonymous. No PII required. All questions optional.
Implement at military discharge so every veteran is screened — achieving the VA's long-awaited but never-attained goal of truly universal screening. This single intervention closes the gap on 6.84 million unscreened veterans.
A mobile-ready screener (iPhone or tablet) uses machine learning models with AUC-ROC scores of .942 (depression) and .948 (anxiety) to detect conditions — then identifies the specific root causes driving each veteran's distress using explainable AI (SHAP values).
Moves beyond generic population insights to individualized ones. Not "many veterans struggle with sleep disturbances" but rather "this veteran is anxious because they have been struggling to meet their family's financial obligations." Individual roots, not population averages.
Considers pre-service hobbies, military branch and experience, and personal interests. Synthesizes all details together to build a complete individual profile that informs which resources will actually resonate with this specific veteran.
Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) with Large Language Models searches any US zip code for validated nonprofits, grouped by NTEE codes, of proper size and type to accommodate veterans — either as volunteers or recipients. Reduces strain on overburdened governmental systems while connecting veterans to community organizations that align with their unique profile.
Deployable on any tablet or smartphone. Any member of any NGO, social worker, 988 call-line operator, or counselor across the US who has incidental contact with a veteran can screen them on the spot. Works anywhere with internet or cellular service. A 988 operator in Shreveport can instantly find validated NGOs in Eugene, Oregon — 2,200 miles away — tailored to that caller's specific needs.
A first-of-its-kind whole-of-community solution poised to drive down instances of veteran suicide in the United States.
All questions are optional. No personally identifiable information required to receive results. Privacy-first by design — removing the barriers of stigma, career fear, and distrust that prevent veterans from seeking help.
Every decision, every reason, and every suggested referral is transparent and available to the administering professional. Local SHAP values explain precisely why the system reached its conclusions — reinforcing accountability and trust.
Uses SHapley Additive exPlanations to identify why this specific veteran is struggling — financial stress, housing instability, family obligations — not generic population-level trends.
Designed for deployment across DOD discharge points, VA facilities, NGOs, social services, 988 call centers, food banks, shelters, religious organizations, and any entity with veteran contact.
Cross-referenced, high-quality recommendations allay burnout concerns and let mental health professionals focus on care — not searching for resources. Consistently high-quality output regardless of geographic distance.
Built-in evaluation architecture scores every output against industry standards developed in conjunction with leading mental health professionals — ensuring continuous system accountability.
ROOTS is grounded in doctoral research successfully defended at the George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science, and reviewed by members of industry. The patent and intellectual property are held by Nicholas C. Birosik.
14 candidate models were evaluated using PyCaret's soft Auto-ML framework. Superior-than-baseline XGBoost (depression, AUC-ROC .942) and LightGBM (anxiety, AUC-ROC .948) models were identified, tuned, and implemented. Statistical significance was confirmed via McNemar's contingency test against baseline logistic regression.
A novel method called Dispersion-Penalized Convex Mesh (DPCM) was developed for Model Class Evaluation — a new contribution to the machine learning literature for ranking and visualizing the predictive power of grouped models.
Local SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) perform root-cause analysis at the individual level, shifting focus from global patterns to personalized insights. Global SHAP bee-swarm diagrams revealed previously undocumented population-level patterns including compelling evidence for data seasonality and distribution shifts in younger veteran demographics.
The system leverages a RAG corpus of IRS Exempt Organizations data covering 50+ NTEE categories, paired with a haversine distance matrix between all US zip codes for rapid geographic subsetting. Regular expressions match veteran interests, military context, and identified needs against NGO profiles to deliver targeted, actionable referrals.
A distributed, GPU-enabled Python backend processes requests through a chained series of Large Language Models. Web-based frontend accessible on any device. Designed for horizontal scaling via containerization to decrease latency and increase throughput for nationwide deployment.
ROOTS can be deployed by any organization with incidental veteran contact — extending the safety net far beyond VA walls.
Implement at military discharge to identify high-risk veterans before they leave service — achieving universal screening and providing proactive referrals for healthy reentry into civilian life.
A call-line operator in any city can instantly find validated, local NGOs near the caller — regardless of distance — tailored to their specific root causes, interests, and military background.
Any frontline worker who encounters a veteran — at a food bank, shelter, religious organization, or outreach program — can administer the free, low-barrier screener on a tablet and provide life-saving referrals on the spot.
"Veterans are found. Veterans are seen.— Finding the Forgotten, Birosik (2025)
Veterans are understood. Veterans are healed."
The National Mental Health Network is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, faithfully serving veterans under NicNac Charities Inc. Your contribution directly supports the deployment of ROOTS to reach the 6.84 million veterans who have never been screened.
If You or Someone You Know Is in Crisis
Call or Text 988
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides free, confidential, 24/7 support. You can also chat at 988lifeline.org.
For the Veterans Crisis Line, press 1 after dialing 988.
Disclaimer: ROOTS is a screening and resource-referral tool designed to support — not replace — the professional judgment of licensed mental health professionals, counselors, and medical providers. ROOTS does not diagnose, treat, or provide clinical care for any mental health condition. The information, referrals, and outputs generated by the system are intended to assist qualified professionals and should not be construed as medical advice, psychiatric evaluation, or crisis intervention. In an emergency, dial 911 or contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline immediately. The National Mental Health Network, NicNac Charities Inc., Dartboard Systems, and Nicholas C. Birosik assume no liability for actions taken or not taken based on ROOTS outputs. Use of this system constitutes agreement to these terms.