Mission
SPTS is dedicated to increasing awareness, saving lives and reducing the stigma of suicide through specialized training programs and mental health resources that empower students, parents, school staff and community members with the skills needed to help youth build a life of resiliency.
Our Vision
Build resilient youth to prevent suicide.
Suicide is a leading cause of death for youth.
History
The Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide, Inc. (SPTS) is a 501(c)3 public charity, incorporated on January 18, 2005. The organization was founded by two Monmouth County, New Jersey fathers who each experienced the devastating loss of a teenage child by suicide. After their losses, they were shocked to learn that suicide was the third leading cause of death for America’s youth at that time and were determined to do whatever they could to protect other families from the devastation of suicide.
For nearly 20 years, SPTS has helped communities in need, most specifically to educators, parents and teens. SPTS was instrumental in the passage of legislation in New Jersey in 2006 requiring public educators to have a minimum of two hours of suicide prevention training every professional development period. SPTS developed a free, best practices, online training program for educators; published the Lifelines Trilogy, an Evidence-based, best practices, whole-school suicide prevention program; and produced Not My Kid: What Every Parent Should Know, a best practices video for parents to increase awareness and knowledge about youth suicide. SPTS offers a variety of prevention training programs and presentations such as: Making Educators Partners in Youth Suicide Prevention, Making Youth Agencies Partners in Youth Suicide Prevention, Raising Resilient Teens in Challenging Times, and the Role of the Trusted Adult. SPTS has routinely worked with states in developing community coalitions, implementing the Lifelines curriculum, enhancing community support and preparing districts for an organized response to traumatic events.
In 2021, SPTS acquired Lead U to expand impact reach and be able to provide high energy and engaging upstream prevention programs to learners of all ages. SPTS has presented to over 100,000 educators, parents and students across more than half the country and trained over 950,000 educators through its online training programs. Though statistics are not able to report the number of lives directly saved by the efforts of our organization, it is estimated that over 20 million youth have been potentially impacted as a result of training and resources made readily available by SPTS.
Core Values
The core values that define SPTS and its founding board are:
- Passionate commitment to the value of life and building resilience.
- Belief in the effectiveness of evidence-based, “upstream,” suicide prevention strategies.
- Dedication to removing stigma about suicide.
- Confident that accurate information and education about suicide and mental health can save lives.
- Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Learn about how you can get involved and how you can help.