First responders and veterans are trained to run toward danger—yet too often, they’re left to face their deepest battles alone. This session confronts the unseen crisis of suicide in those who serve, breaking through the silence that surrounds mental health struggles in uniformed professions.

Drawing from personal experience, clinical insight, and cultural understanding, this presentation explores the unique psychological burdens faced by veterans, firefighters, EMS, law enforcement, and dispatchers. From moral injury to cumulative trauma, the session highlights how service can both shape and shatter identity, often leaving individuals without the tools, or the permission, to ask for help.

Participants will learn:

• Why standard suicide prevention models fall short in the veteran and first responder space
• How stigma, shame, and institutional silence drive disconnection and despair
• The role of peer connection, purpose, and trauma-informed care in true prevention
• How to build trust-based systems that protect not just lives, but dignity

Designed for clinicians, leaders, and advocates, this session is not about more statistics—it’s about changing the story. “The Calls You Don’t Hear” honors the voices often overlooked and empowers communities to prevent suicide not just through crisis intervention, but through culture shift, connection, and courageous leadership.

Because the mission isn’t over until everyone makes it home.

In this session, we will highlight the initiatives of the Randolph County Behavioral Health Collaborative aimed at engaging youth and creating meaningful opportunities for them to share their voices. Youth participants will be present to speak about the challenges they face and the impactful work they are leading in the community.

The Youth Panel includes members of the Randolph County Junior Board, which is a collaboration of two local nonprofits, Start with Art & Chasing Sunsets. which elevates young voices and encourages leadership by giving teens a direct role in planning events, sharing experiences and shaping the direction of programing provided by the nonprofits.

Participants will:

• Identify effective strategies used by the Randolph County Behavioral Health Collaborative and local nonprofits to engage youth in behavioral health initiatives and decision-making.
• Recognize the value of youth-led advocacy by hearing directly from young people about the challenges they face and the solutions they are implementing within their community.

In the midst of a crisis, we often want to make decisions as quickly as possible. In someone’s darkest moments, it is our responsibility to honor client confidentiality. How do we reconcile confidentiality and the ethical responsibility of keeping people safe? This presentation will discuss how collateral can be utilized in crisis situations, the overarching HIPPA guidelines, and the value of collateral being a part of decision making to prevent suicides.

Participants will leave with a better understanding of:

• HIPPA
• The benefits and limitations of collateral
• How collateral can be utilized throughout the crisis intervention

Caring Communities: Guidance for Supporting Survivors of Suicide Loss is a one-hour presentation, available in-person or virtually, designed to provide participants with information, resources, and practical guidance on how to support someone who has experienced a recent loss to suicide.

The program is suitable for workplaces, community groups, and individuals who want to learn how to build more supportive environments for loss survivors.

Caring Communities was developed by AFSP’s National Loss and Healing Council, comprised of both experts in the field and people with lived experience of suicide loss.

Audience: Caring Communities can be presented to anyone over the age of 18.

Youth suicide continues to be an urgent and heartbreaking crisis across Indiana. Suicide is now the second leading cause of death for Hoosiers ages 10–34, and recent data paints an increasingly concerning picture of how school bullying is contributing to this epidemic. Indiana schools reported a record 7,700 bullying incidents during the 2023–2024 school year — a staggering 41% increase over the previous year. Reports of cyberbullying, in particular, have risen sharply, with 15.7% of high school students experiencing electronic harassment. Vulnerable groups such as LGBTQ+ students and girls are disproportionately affected; the Indiana Girl Report found that nearly 50% of girls reported extended periods of sadness or hopelessness, and 1 in 4 seriously considered suicide.

The connection between bullying and suicide is well-documented in national and state research. Victims of bullying are 2 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide, and cyberbullying triples that risk. In Indiana, this correlation is tragically illustrated by recent cases where elementary-aged children, after experiencing bullying, died by suicide, sparking waves of grief and calls for stronger intervention. Beyond statistics, this crisis has a deeply human face. Students describe feeling trapped in cycles of bullying that extend beyond the classroom into their digital lives. Many do not seek help, believing their experiences will be dismissed or misunderstood.

Yet, there is hope. Research and fieldwork point to concrete, effective solutions that schools and communities can implement: Creating trauma-informed school climates where connection and belonging are prioritized, equipping educators and staff with the skills to recognize and interrupt bullying behaviors early, promoting peer support programs that foster resilience and inclusion, ensuring accessible mental health services within and beyond the school setting, strengthening partnerships between schools, families, and local suicide prevention networks.

Prevention is possible — and it begins with awareness, training, and a commitment to transforming school culture. This session will provide attendees with actionable strategies and model programs already making an impact in Indiana and beyond.

Participants will be able to:

• Understand the psychological and social pathways through which bullying can increase a young person’s risk of suicidal ideation and behavior.
• Analyze current trends in bullying and youth suicide in Indiana, with attention to risk factors among diverse student populations.
• Explain how different forms of bullying (physical, verbal, social, and cyber) can impact mental health and increase suicide risk in youth.
• Recognize behavioral and emotional warning signs that may indicate a young person is experiencing bullying-related trauma or suicidal ideation.
• Implement practical, evidence-based strategies across school, home, and community settings to prevent bullying, promote resilience, and support youth mental well-being.

Together, we can move from crisis to hope — creating schools where every student feels safe, seen, and supported.

Indiana’s Community Challenge vision is to inspire, empower, and invest in Indiana’s community efforts to prevent suicide. This presentation will focus on the partnership and funding possibilities the Indiana Challenge team is bringing to communities across Indiana.

Participants will:

• Understand the issues surrounding suicide prevention for Service Members, Veterans, and their Families and Caregivers (SMVF-CG).
• Introduce evidence-based practices of prevention, intervention, and postvention to increase awareness and action at the community level. Define and measure success, including assignments, deadlines, and measurable outcomes to be reported.
• Learn how communities can utilize customized data and IDVA grant opportunities to develop a strategic plan and begin program implementation.

Finding Hope: Guidance for Supporting Those At Risk provides in-depth, practical information for those supporting someone with lived experience. In the context of this program, “lived experience” refers to individuals who have made a suicide attempt and/or experience suicidal thoughts. This program offers education and resources on the process of recovery after a suicidal crisis, warning signs to look out for, planning for safety, and crisis response. It also addresses the different treatment levels in the realm of mental health, and how participants can practice self-care as they support someone in their lives at risk for suicide.

Participants will:

• Understand the perspective of a person with suicidal thoughts
• Describe how to recognize suicide warning signs
• Provide examples of how to start a conversation about suicide with someone you’re concerned about
• Provide examples of ways to help support someone with lived experience
• Understand how to support someone’s treatment and their plan for safety