Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors
Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS) is a U.S. nonprofit that provides peer-based care, crisis assistance, grief resources, and advocacy for people mourning a death connected to military service.
Last updated November 4, 2026
AI crawler reads
No AI crawler has read this profile since Oct 28, 2026.
Overview
Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, commonly known as TAPS, is an American nonprofit organization serving families, friends, and other loved ones of people who died while serving in the U.S. armed forces. Its work is centered on the principle that military survivors should receive continuing emotional support, practical assistance, and access to a community of people who understand the distinctive circumstances of military loss. TAPS offers its services without charge and seeks to serve survivors regardless of their relationship to the deceased, the cause or circumstances of death, or where the survivor lives. The organization arose from a military aviation tragedy in Alaska in November 1992, when eight soldiers died in a C-12 aircraft crash. Bonnie Carroll, whose husband, Army Brigadier General Tom Carroll, was among those killed, experienced the absence of a national peer-support system for military families after a death. Bereaved families initially supported one another informally. Carroll spent the next two years researching bereavement resources and peer-support models before establishing TAPS in 1994. She continued as the organization's president and served on its board, while the organization developed a national network for military survivors. TAPS's principal service model combines professional staff assistance with survivor-to-survivor support. Its National Military Survivor Helpline provides around-the-clock telephone access to information, emotional support, and connections to assistance. TAPS also offers individual peer mentoring, support groups, online communities, seminars, retreats, expeditions, and crisis-response services. Many staff members are themselves survivors of military loss, allowing the organization to combine professional casework with lived experience. Trained peer mentors can accompany newer survivors as they navigate grief, casualty procedures, benefits, family changes, and the long-term effects of loss. The organization supports children and young people through programs such as Good Grief Camp and related youth activities. Military and legacy mentors provide personal companionship to bereaved children and teenagers, including mentors who are service members, veterans, or survivors who have previously participated in TAPS programs. The National Military Survivor Seminar and Good Grief Camp has been held around Memorial Day in Washington, D.C., since 1994, alongside regional seminars and other programming in the United States and overseas. TAPS expanded its role after the September 11 attacks and the subsequent period of sustained U.S. military operations. It worked with the Pentagon Family Assistance Center and developed relationships with military services, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of State, and other government and nonprofit partners. Its support extends beyond emotional care to casualty casework, benefits guidance, education for bereavement professionals, and policy advocacy. The organization has advocated on issues including survivor benefits, education assistance, death gratuities, military suicide prevention, toxic-exposure reforms, and protections for surviving families. A major area of specialization is support after military or veteran suicide loss. TAPS began building a dedicated suicide-loss program in 2008 and later articulated the TAPS Suicide Postvention Model, a three-stage framework consisting of stabilization, grief work, and posttraumatic growth. The model addresses suicide-specific complications, helps survivors reconnect with the life and service of the person who died, and supports the search for meaning after loss. The National Military Suicide Survivor Seminar and Good Grief Camp began in 2009. In 2017, TAPS created a program intended to share its postvention approach with external providers and organizations, and in 2021 it published a peer-reviewed article describing the model. TAPS also serves as a training and knowledge organization. The TAPS Institute for Hope and Healing, launched in 2018 with the Hospice Foundation of America, was designed to provide education and collaboration for professionals working in bereavement. During the COVID-19 pandemic, TAPS expanded digital services so survivors could maintain contact and obtain support when in-person events were restricted. In recognition of TAPS's national service and Bonnie Carroll's work, President Barack Obama presented Carroll with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015; she accepted it on behalf of the wider TAPS community.
History
TAPS was created in response to a gap in national support for families grieving a military death. The immediate catalyst was the November 1992 crash of a C-12 aircraft in Alaska that killed eight soldiers. Bonnie Carroll, whose husband, Army Brigadier General Tom Carroll, was among the dead, encountered a bereavement system in which families had to rely heavily on one another. The affected families formed an informal support network, often meeting in their own homes and sharing practical knowledge as well as emotional care. Carroll spent approximately two years examining available resources and studying peer-based organizations before founding TAPS in 1994. From the outset, the organization was designed to complement—not replace—military, government, and other nonprofit services. Its distinctive contribution was sustained connection between survivors, supported by professional staff, rather than assistance limited to the immediate period after a casualty notification. By September 2001, TAPS had developed grief and peer-support programs that had gained recognition among military leaders. Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, the organization worked through the Pentagon Family Assistance Center and helped families affected by the renewed era of U.S. military operations. The increase in combat, training, illness, and suicide deaths across the armed forces and veteran population broadened the scale and complexity of TAPS's work. TAPS's operating model evolved into a combination of immediate outreach, long-term peer relationships, crisis intervention, casework, educational programming, and advocacy. The organization created a 24-hour survivor helpline and developed programs for adults, children, teenagers, and people coping with suicide loss. Its annual National Military Survivor Seminar and Good Grief Camp, first held in 1994, became a central gathering point for military survivors. Regional seminars, online communities, retreats, expeditions, and specialized programs extended that network beyond the main annual event. Peer mentoring became a core practice. Survivors who have had time to work through their own loss can receive training and accompany newer survivors individually or through groups. Youth programs use military mentors and legacy mentors to give bereaved children and teenagers a consistent, understanding presence. This approach reflects TAPS's belief that shared experience can reduce isolation while professional staff provide structure, safety, and specialist assistance. The organization began developing dedicated support for suicide loss in 2008. That work led to the National Military Suicide Survivor Seminar and Good Grief Camp in 2009 and eventually to the TAPS Suicide Postvention Model. The model describes care in three phases: stabilization, grief work, and posttraumatic growth. TAPS subsequently shared the approach with other organizations and providers through training, public messaging, webinars, and partnerships. Its suicide-postvention work also informed broader policy and professional discussions about military suicide and survivor care. TAPS expanded its institutional role through education and policy. The TAPS Institute for Hope and Healing was launched in March 2018 with the Hospice Foundation of America as a training and collaboration resource for bereavement professionals. The policy team worked with Congress, the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and other agencies on survivor benefits, education, death gratuities, suicide prevention, toxic exposure, and protections for surviving dependents. During the COVID-19 pandemic, TAPS increased online programming to preserve connection when in-person gatherings were disrupted. Recognition of the organization culminated in 2015, when President Barack Obama awarded Bonnie Carroll the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Carroll accepted the award on behalf of the broader TAPS family. TAPS remains an active national nonprofit focused on the continuing care of families and other loved ones affected by military loss.
- 2021
Suicide postvention framework is published
[1]TAPS published a peer-reviewed article describing its stabilization, grief work, and posttraumatic growth model.
- 2020
TAPS participates in the PREVENTS initiative
[1]TAPS joined the federally coordinated PREVENTS effort addressing suicide prevention among veterans and the wider population.
- 2018
TAPS Institute for Hope and Healing launches
[1]TAPS and the Hospice Foundation of America formed an institute for bereavement training and professional collaboration.
- 2017
Suicide Prevention and Postvention program is established
[1]TAPS created a program to share its suicide-postvention methods with external organizations and providers.
- 2015
Bonnie Carroll receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom
[1]President Barack Obama honored Carroll's decades of service to families of fallen service members.
- 2009
National Military Suicide Survivor Seminar launches
[1]TAPS introduced a dedicated seminar and Good Grief Camp for survivors of military suicide loss.
- 2008
Dedicated military suicide-loss program begins
[1]TAPS began building specialized services for families grieving a military or veteran death by suicide.
- 2001
TAPS supports families after September 11
[1]The organization provided peer-based assistance through the Pentagon Family Assistance Center as the United States entered a prolonged period of military conflict.
- 1994
TAPS is founded
[1]After researching bereavement and peer-support practices, Bonnie Carroll founded the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors.
- 1994
National Military Survivor Seminar and Good Grief Camp begins
[1]TAPS began its annual national survivor gathering and youth grief program in Washington, D.C., during Memorial Day weekend.
Products and positioning
A national, survivor-centered support organization combining professional care, peer companionship, crisis response, bereavement education, and public-policy advocacy for people affected by military loss.
Peer support
TAPS Peer Mentor Program
A trained survivor-to-survivor service that pairs military survivors with people facing a newer loss. Mentors provide companionship, listening, practical orientation, and connection to additional TAPS resources. The program can include individual relationships, care groups, facilitation opportunities, and other forms of survivor leadership.
Bereavement programming · 1994
National Military Survivor Seminar and Good Grief Camp
TAPS's principal annual gathering for military survivors, held in Washington, D.C., around Memorial Day since 1994. It combines adult seminars, peer connection, grief education, and programming for bereaved children and teenagers supported by military and legacy mentors.
Crisis and information service
TAPS National Military Survivor Helpline
A continuously available telephone resource through which survivors can reach TAPS professionals for emotional support, information, referrals, and assistance connecting with casualty, benefits, and grief resources.
Suicide-loss support framework
TAPS Suicide Postvention Model
A three-phase framework for supporting survivors after a military or veteran suicide: stabilization, grief work, and posttraumatic growth. It addresses suicide-specific complications, supports reconstruction of the survivor's relationship with the deceased, and encourages meaning-making and healing.
Professional education · 2018
TAPS Institute for Hope and Healing
An education and collaboration initiative created with the Hospice Foundation of America to support bereavement professionals through training, information sharing, and connections across the grief-care field.
Brand decisions
2020
Expand digital support during the COVID-19 pandemicStrategyBackground
Public-health restrictions disrupted in-person survivor gatherings and made continuity of peer connection more difficult.
Action taken
TAPS increased online services, including digital connection, discussions, and access to support and information.
Aftermath
Survivors could continue receiving peer contact and care while in-person programs were limited.
2017
Extend the suicide-postvention model beyond TAPSStrategyBackground
TAPS had developed specialized support for families bereaved by military or veteran suicide and had accumulated experience through survivor-led care.
Action taken
The organization established its Suicide Prevention and Postvention program to provide training, public messaging, webinars, and consultation to outside organizations and providers.
Aftermath
The program became part of TAPS's broader contribution to military suicide policy, professional education, and national postvention practice.
Sources2 sources
Cite this profile: Cite the canonical profile. /brand-wiki/tragedy-assistance-program-for-survivors · Editorial policy · How profiles are compiled