September marks National Suicide Prevention Month

Spotlight on Indiana Center for Prevention of Youth Abuse & Suicide

As September approaches, marking National Suicide Prevention Month, it’s a crucial time to highlight efforts aimed at combating youth abuse and suicide.

The Indiana Center for Prevention of Youth Abuse & Suicide (ICPYAS) is at the forefront of this important cause, working tirelessly to implement innovative programs and provide essential resources for youth and organizations that serve youth.

Last year, the Indiana Center for Prevention met with 89,068 students in 134 schools in 48 districts across 18 Indiana counties, creating circles of care through three main curricula: sexual abuse prevention, suicide prevention, and digital safety. Each unique curriculum provides another avenue to combat suicide by teaching students about red flag behaviors and helping them to develop help-seeking skills.

ICPYAS began providing Signs of Suicide to central Indiana middle and high school students in the spring of 2022. As of the end of the last school year, the organization had reached 2,181 students with this life-saving program. Not only does this program help destigmatize mental health issues and help-seeking behaviors, it also allows students an opportunity to confidentially request a meeting with their school counselor or social worker. To date, this program has helped connect 74 students to vital resources and support.

Additionally, ICPYAS offers QPR Gatekeeper suicide prevention training for free every month to adults across the state in addition to providing private sessions for groups and organizations upon request. Over 3,000 adults have completed QPR training since implementing this program in November 2017.

In 2017, state legislation mandated a statewide suicide prevention coordinator. Under their guidance, the Division of Mental Health and Addiction created a prevention framework and toolkit, adopting a goal of zero suicides.

From the 2024 Indiana Kids Count Data book, it is known:

• 7 percent of Hoosier teens (seventh through 12^th grades) reporting feeling sad or hopeless for two or more weeks.
• 2 percent of seventh through 12^th graders seriously considered suicide in the past year.
• 8 percent had made a plan.
• The mental health provider ratio was 529:1 in 2022.
• Suicide was the second-leading cause of death among Hoosier youth ages 10 to 14 in 2022.
• Suicide was the third-leading cause of death among Hoosier youth ages 15 to 19 in 2022.
• 56 Hoosier youth from the ages of 10 to 19 died as a result of suicide in 2022 (roughly one every week).

Additionally, ICPYAS recognizes that work must also come from within the student population itself and therefore recently launched a Youth Advisory Council with goals that include improving the effectiveness and relevance of programming for and about youth.

For more information about the Indiana Center for Prevention of Youth Abuse & Suicide’s programs contact Megan Banet at (317) 759-8008 or visit IndianaPrevention.org.