Mission

The mission of the Society for the Prevention of Teen Suicide is to reduce the number of youth suicides and attempted suicides by encouraging public awareness through the development and promotion of educational training programs.

What We Do

SPTS was founded in 2005 by two fathers, who each experienced the devastating loss of a teenage child by suicide. A local (Monmouth County, NJ) non-profit organization with a national reach, SPTS is dedicated to increasing awareness and reducing the stigma of suicide through specialized training programs and outreach resources that empower teens, parents and educational leaders with the guidance and skills needed to help those at risk of suicide and build a life of resiliency.

For over a decade, SPTS has provided assistance to 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" Parent Presentation, and a Trusted Adult Presentation. 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. Though statistics are not able to report the number of lives directly saved by the efforts of our organization, it is estimated that over 5.25 million youth have been potentially impacted as a result of training and resources made readily available by SPTS.