September is Suicide Prevention Month, and this year is no different.
Owens
“Amidst a pandemic, suicide rates and suicidal ideation are rising, and now is the time to learn how you can help offer hope and guidance, as well as how to successfully have an open conversation with those around you,” said Maggie Owens, Director of Education and Community Relations.
To help raise awareness, the Indiana Center for Prevention of Youth Abuse & Suicide (ICPYAS) is offering Suicide Prevention training free in the month of September. QPR stands for Question, Persuade and Refer – the three simple steps anyone can learn to help save a life from suicide. QPR is not a form of counseling or treatment. Rather, it is intended to offer hope through positive action. By learning QPR, you will come to recognize the warning signs, clues and suicidal communications of someone in trouble and gain skills to act vigorously to prevent a possible tragedy. To register, visit indianaprevention.org/events.
“September is a big month for us at ICPYAS because we also start offering our Child Abuse Prevention programs in our Central Indiana schools,” Owens said.
Since 2001, ICPYAS has been providing this lifesaving child abuse prevention program to schools. Now mandated in all schools in the state of Indiana, this teaches kids about how to get help if they are in an unsafe situation.
“The model that we use builds off the idea to Think First & Stay Safe,” Owens said. “Just like we wear a seat belt to stay safe and a helmet when we ride our bike, learning about other things we do to keep ourselves safe should not be any different. We use a spiraling curriculum, so every year builds off the previous year information. This year looks quite a bit different as we have had to pivot to a virtual model for at least the remainder of 2020, but our team worked throughout the pandemic to still meet the needs of our community and our partners in education to ensure that they are able to still receive this information.”
For more information on all the programs ICPYAS offers as well as find out ways that you can help support the organization during Suicide Prevention Month and throughout the year, visit indianaprevention.org, or email contact@indianaprevention.org.
About ICPYAS
ICPYAS was founded in 2001. ICPYAS works passionately to end youth abuse and suicide through their educational programs. With almost two decades of experience, ICPYAS provides evidence-based programming to educate youth and adults, empowering them to recognize, react and locate the appropriate resources available for help. ICPYAS offers five comprehensive programs that support its mission as it actively works towards a day when there will be no more abuse or suicide in the lives of Hoosier children.