In 2001, US Surgeon General David Satcher released a report entitled, “National Strategy for Suicide Prevention: Goals and Objectives for Action.” This report described suicide as a serious public health problem throughout the United States, and introduced a blueprint for addressing suicide prevention through Awareness, Intervention, and Methodology (AIM). It also served as a call to action for the states to develop their own state suicide prevention plans.

In response to the national call to action and the magnitude of the problem in the state, the Indiana Suicide Prevention Coalition (ISPC) formed in 2001 to address this issue. The Coalition is in a growth phase and our goal is to have all regions of the state as well as a variety of stakeholders including health, mental health, education, policy makers, the faith community, survivors of suicide, youth, elderly, people of diverse racial, ethnic, and gender backgrounds, and others represented on the Coalition. Currently the Coalition has a paid part-time Project Coordinator, 25 active members, and 27 advisory members. In addition to this statewide Coalition, Indiana has 10 local suicide prevention councils working in communities across the state to prevent suicide.

The Coalition is a statewide community outreach initiative of the Behavioral Health and Family Studies Institute at the Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne
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