Contact

Outreach Director: Laura McKee: lamckee@dva.in.gov

For information on Planning and Implementation grant opportunities!

Indiana's Community Challenge

Our Vision:

Indiana's Community Challenge vision is to inspire, empower, and invest in Indiana's community efforts to prevent suicide. Our mission is to provide knowledge, choice, and support for community coalitions, agencies, and organizations to identify service members, veterans, family members, and caregivers.  Foster connection for all communities and provide education, services, and resources.

Through its Governor's and Mayors' Challenges, SAMHSA and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs support the implementation of a public health approach for the prevention of suicide among service members, veterans, and their families. These efforts help states and communities develop the capacity to implement interagency military/civilian action plans grounded in evidence-based suicide prevention practices.

SAMHSA has partnered with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to bring the Governor’s and Mayor’s Challenges to Prevent Suicide Among SMVF to states, territories, and communities across the nation. Fifty-two states and territories are currently participating in the challenge and are working to develop and implement state-wide suicide prevention best practices for SMVF using a public health approach. SAMHSA’s SMVF TA Center is providing technical assistance for these initiatives.

Challenge Objectives:

• Engage with Indiana communities and state stakeholders to create, enhance, and align suicide prevention efforts.
• Understand the issues surrounding suicide prevention for SMVF-CG.
• Increase knowledge about implementing best policies and best practices by facilitating community-to-community sharing.
• 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.

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