2022 Grantee

Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide

MISSION STATEMENT:  The Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide (SPTS) is dedicated to increasing awareness, saving lives and reducing the stigma of suicide through specialized training programs and mental health resources that empower teens, parents, school staff and community members with the skills needed to help youth build a life of resiliency.

THE PROJECT: SPTS seeks support to ensure the parents of over 90,000 students can fulfill their roles as informed advocates for youth in the face of the urgent mental health crisis plaguing our community. The Behavioral Health Toolkit (BHT), currently only available in print, is an upstream suicide prevention resource that delivers compassionate, family-centered, and competency-building education. It explains that a child’s emotional issues are not a result of bad parenting and serves as a communication “ice breaker” for families to promote early identification of mental health concerns. The impact of developing a digital version of the BHT is significant, as it will increase access to this vital resource for ALL parents. It will be available in multiple languages for students grades K-12 with greater ease and at a lower cost compared to distributing the printed version.