AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF SUICIDOLOGY
Suicide Prevention is Everyone's Business
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Suicide is in the top 10 causes of death for adults and the 2nd leading cause of death in youth aged 15-24, far outranking homicide in each age group. This equates to losing someone every 11.7 minutes to suicide, and one suicide attempt every 28 seconds. This epidemic does not discriminate by age, race, religion, or other demographic, as suicide touches everyone. Suicide prevention as a field has only just crossed 50 years of existence through the American Association of Suicidology (AAS), focusing on research, outreach and support, informed trainings for professionals, and dissemination of adequate information to the public.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Survivors of Suicide Support Groups
AAS offers a national directory of support groups that focus on a variety of survivors of suicide.
Training & Accreditation
AAS has several training and accreditation programs that focus on a variety of suicide prevention topics ranging from core competencies and principles for mental health professionals and school and youth personnel, to certification of crisis worker skills, to teachings on the foundations and techniques for reconstructing the causes of death by suicide.
Annual Conference
The AAS Annual Conference brings together researchers and practitioners to present and discuss the latest research and practice in all areas of the study of suicide. The conference unites two related events: the Annual Conference, and the Healing Conference for survivors. There is also a separate day(s) for targeted certification trainings for professionals at the pre-conference timeframe.
National Center for the Prevention of Youth Suicide
The National Center for the Prevention of Youth Suicide (NCPYS) is a division of AAS, which offers services and programs for and by youth. NCPYS includes a Youth Advisory Board who provide input on projects aimed at reducing the number of deaths by suicide and incidences of suicidal behavior amongst their youth peers.
Membership
AAS provides members and general public with the education materials as well as access to resources in suicide prevention including continuing education and certification.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of training events conducted
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Training & Accreditation
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Total number of organization members
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Membership
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Total number of organization members at end of each year
Number of conference attendees
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Annual Conference
Type of Metric
Context - describing the issue we work on
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
2023 1469 in person rest were virtual
Number of participants engaged in programs
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Training & Accreditation
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Number of individuals trained
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
As the oldest suicide prevention in the United States, the American Association of Suicidology (AAS) is accomplishing a breadth of goals which create innovative partnerships to spread suicide prevention awareness and support to all areas of suicide prevention efforts. The membership of AAS includes mental health and public health professionals, researchers, suicide prevention and crisis intervention centers, school districts, crisis center volunteers, survivors of suicide loss, attempt survivors, and a variety of lay persons who have in interest in suicide prevention.
AAS Mission Statement: To promote the understanding and prevention of suicide and support those who have been affected by it.
AAS Vision Statement: We are an inclusive community that envisions a world where people know how to prevent suicide and find hope and healing.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our strategies for obtaining our goals and accomplishments can be done through creating innovative partnerships, supporting grassroots efforts in suicide prevention, and increasing the visibility of suicide prevention issues in the greater media. Through our work with other national non-profits and government agencies, we have strengthened our relationships with a variety of communities touched by suicide prevention.
As in our mission statement, we accomplish these goals by directing efforts to:
• Advance Suicidology as a science; encouraging, developing and disseminating scholarly work in suicidology.
• Encourage the development and application of strategies that reduce the incidence and prevalence of suicidal behaviors.
• Compile, develop, evaluate and disseminate accurate information about suicidal behaviors to the public.
• Foster the highest possible quality of suicide prevention, intervention and postvention to the public.
• Publicize official AAS positions on issues of public policy relating to suicide.
• Promote research and training in suicidology.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
AAS is capable of achieving the goals we have set out for ourselves. As the oldest suicide prevention membership organization in the United States, AAS has a long history of research and innovation in the suicidology and suicide prevention field. Our members have been the key to our growing partnerships, thus inviting new stakeholders with new ideas to add to our efforts. We are focused on our mission statement to effectively change suicide rates and help better inform policies around it.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
AAS is the oldest suicide prevention organization in the U.S., recently celebrating 50 years of informative suicide prevention efforts, research, and support of survivors of suicide loss. The organization has made leaps and bounds in the field of suicidology research over the decades, including creating the first membership organization focused specifically on studying suicide and suicidal behavior. Through this, many innovative breakthroughs have been made, such as the development of effective treatments, more concise theories of suicidal behavior, and the movement for discussion without stigma on the topic. Part of this requires public awareness of the prevalence,
warning signs, and prevention techniques available to join in our goal.
We look forward to increasing our partnerships with other organizations for increased topic visibility, as well as reducing the overall rate of suicide. From what have learned, we need more state and federal research, a more open conversation about suicide, and opportunities for mental health help. AAS is looking forward to growing our membership base of passionate individuals and organizations who are working with us tirelessly to make a real difference in suicide as a public health issue.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF SUICIDOLOGY
Board of directorsas of 02/03/2024
Ms. Tony Coder
Ohio Suicide Prevention Foundation
Term: 2022 - 2024
Don Wright
Clarigent Health
Jim Bryne
Lockheed Martin
Jacque Christmas
MO Dept of Mental Health
Tony Coder
OH Suicide Prevention Foundation
Pam McKie
Children's Home of Cincinnati
Hudson Harris
Deloitte
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 03/27/2020GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.