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Advocacy group urges Coast Guard to enact Brandon Act

"Brandon Caserta Foundation" says Coast Guard "failing to protect the lives of its service members against death by suicide."

NORFOLK, Va. — An advocacy group says the Coast Guard is failing to protect the lives of its own personnel.

The Brandon Caserta Foundation says the Coast Guard is the only branch of the U.S. Armed Forces that has failed to enact "The Brandon Act."

That measure was passed by Congress and signed by President Biden in 2021. It is an effort to prevent suicide in the military.

The act allows troops to seek stigma-free mental health help, outside of their own chain of command.

 It's named after a Norfolk based sailor who took his life in 2018.

Foundation co-founder Teri Caserta — mother of Brandon — said: "We know that the Brandon Act has helped many service members in other military branches, so we know the Brandon Act will also help the Coast Guard."

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