Prevention • Preparedness • Sustainable Community Capacity
Be the Conversation. Be the Difference.
Sustainable prevention begins by preparing more people to recognize concern, begin an important conversation and help connect someone with appropriate support. Join FFCA for QPR Suicide Prevention Certification during HOPE 2027—or bring this professional learning experience to your organization and community.
FFCA Mental Health & Wellness
Mental Health Is a Community Effort.
Mental health and wellness are not separate from the work of strengthening fathers, families, professionals and communities. They are part of the foundation.
The Fathers and Families Coalition of America is committed to advancing mental health awareness through high-quality professional learning that strengthens awareness, human connection, early response, referral and community support.
QPR — Question, Persuade, Refer provides participants with a practical suicide-prevention framework for recognizing concerns, beginning important conversations and helping connect people with appropriate support.
A Practical Suicide-Prevention Framework
Question. Persuade. Refer.
QPR prepares participants to recognize warning signs, communicate with care and help connect a person who may be at risk with appropriate professional and community resources.
Question
Strengthen awareness of warning signs and develop greater confidence beginning a caring and direct conversation when suicide risk may be present.
Persuade
Learn approaches for listening, communicating concern and encouraging a person to accept help and support.
Refer
Strengthen understanding of how to help connect individuals with appropriate professional, crisis and community resources.
Awareness Into Action
When Someone Needs Help, Knowing How to Respond Matters.
Parents, educators, practitioners, clinicians, first responders, advocates, faith leaders, supervisors and community members may find themselves in situations where someone is struggling and needs support.
QPR training strengthens the knowledge and confidence needed to recognize concerns, respond appropriately and help connect someone to additional assistance.
You Do Not Have to Be a Mental Health Clinician.
QPR prepares trained participants to serve as Gatekeepers—people positioned to recognize potential suicide risk and help guide an individual toward appropriate resources and professional assistance.
Greater awareness, stronger conversations and prepared people can contribute to safer, healthier and more supportive communities.
What Participants Gain
Practical Learning for the Moments That Matter.
The certification experience emphasizes practical knowledge and skills participants can carry into professional, educational, family and community environments.
QPR Gatekeeper Certification
Complete the required QPR training experience and associated requirements for certification.
Warning-Sign Awareness
Strengthen awareness of behaviors and circumstances that may indicate someone needs additional attention or support.
Conversation Skills
Develop greater confidence beginning difficult but important conversations with care, respect and purpose.
Referral & Connection
Understand how to help connect individuals with appropriate professional, crisis and community resources.
Real-World Application
Consider how prevention awareness can be applied across professional, educational, family and community settings.
Greater Preparedness
Leave with a clearer framework for what to consider and how to respond when someone may be at risk.
Professional Learning With Purpose
Empowering Communities to Save Lives.
The QPR Suicide Prevention Certification Program, offered in partnership with Florida A&M University, equips participants with essential skills to identify warning signs of suicide, offer hope and connect those in crisis with professional help.
This collaborative professional-learning experience brings together FFCA's commitment to strengthening families and communities with clinical and academic leadership connected to Florida A&M University's Office of Counseling Services.
Program Features
- Interactive QPR suicide-prevention instruction
- Taught by a Certified QPR Master Trainer
- Offered in partnership with Florida A&M University
- QPR Gatekeeper Certification upon completion of required components
- Continuing Education Units and professional training credit opportunities
- Pre- and post-training surveys supporting quality assurance and impact evaluation
- Practical application for professional, family and community environments
Prevention Belongs Across Communities
Who Should Attend?
QPR can strengthen suicide-prevention awareness among people working and living across many different environments.
Parents & Caregivers
Families and people supporting children and loved ones.
Educators
Teachers, school professionals and educational leaders.
Mental Health & Human Services
Clinicians, counselors, social workers and practitioners.
First Responders
Professionals who may encounter people during moments of crisis.
Faith & Community Leaders
Trusted individuals serving communities and congregations.
Family-Serving Professionals
Practitioners working directly with fathers, parents and families.
Managers & Employers
HR professionals, supervisors and organizational leaders.
Community Advocates
People committed to strengthening wellness and connection.
Academic Leadership.
Community Commitment.
QPR Leadership
Dr. Alicia L. Jackson, PhD
Author • International Executive Fellow • Clinical Programs Leader • Certified QPR Master Trainer
Dr. Alicia L. Jackson, PhD is a nationally respected clinician and educator, an author, and serves as International Executive Fellow with the Fathers and Families Coalition of America.
Dr. Jackson also serves as Coordinator of Clinical Programs at Florida A&M University's Office of Counseling Services and is a Certified QPR Master Trainer.
She has trained thousands of professionals nationally and internationally in areas including trauma, clinical supervision and suicide prevention. Her leadership brings clinical knowledge, academic leadership and professional training into FFCA's broader commitment to mental health, wellness and community learning.
Dr. Jackson's leadership within the International Families and Fathers Conference further supports the connection between prevention, professional learning, family strengthening and healthier communities.
Learn More About Dr. Alicia L. JacksonHOPE 2027 Pre-Conference Institute
QPR Suicide Prevention Certification
Add focused suicide-prevention professional development to your experience at the 28th International Families and Fathers Conference — HOPE 2027.
This certification experience strengthens awareness, early recognition, response, referral and support skills for professionals, families, educators, leaders and community-serving organizations.
From One Training to Greater Community Capacity
Bring QPR Suicide-Prevention Learning to Your Organization.
Sustainability grows when professional learning extends beyond a single event and becomes part of how organizations prepare people, strengthen awareness and support healthier communities.
FFCA welcomes conversations with organizations interested in incorporating QPR suicide-prevention learning into broader professional-development, mental-health, wellness and community-capacity efforts.
Strengthen the People Who Strengthen Others.
QPR can complement professional learning for family-serving organizations, universities, schools, community-based programs, behavioral-health systems, human-service agencies, leadership teams and other groups seeking to strengthen suicide-prevention awareness and referral readiness.
Organizations may contact FFCA to discuss group participation, professional-development opportunities and customized training needs.
Dr. James C. Rodríguez, MSW, CADC
President & CEO
Fathers and Families Coalition of America
FFCA's Commitment to Mental Health & Wellness
Stronger People. Stronger Families. Brighter Communities.
FFCA's commitment extends beyond a single certification. Mental health awareness, wellness, human connection and prevention belong within the larger work of strengthening families, developing practitioners, supporting leaders and building healthier communities.
Awareness
Helping people recognize when another human being may need greater attention, care or support.
Connection
Strengthening conversations and relationships that can help people feel seen, heard and connected.
Community
Building environments where prevention and wellness are shared responsibilities rather than isolated efforts.
Listen • Care • Connect
Every Conversation Can Matter.
Join FFCA and Dr. Alicia L. Jackson for QPR Suicide Prevention Certification during HOPE 2027. Strengthen your own preparedness, bring this learning back to your community, or talk with us about creating a professional-learning opportunity for your organization.
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 911. In the United States, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. QPR training is educational and does not replace emergency, crisis or clinical mental-health services.
QPR Instructor • International Executive Fellow • Author • Educator
Meet Dr. Alicia L. Jackson, PhD
A leader at the intersection of mental health, education, faith, family and community — helping transform awareness into action and purpose into sustainable change.
A Voice for Hope. A Leader for Change.
Ordained Minister • Author • Educator • Mental Health Leader • International Executive Fellow
Dr. Alicia L. Jackson, PhD is a mental health professional, ordained minister, published author, educator and International Executive Fellow with the Fathers and Families Coalition of America (FFCA).
Dr. Jackson serves as Coordinator of Clinical Programs at Florida A&M University's Office of Counseling Services and is a Certified QPR Instructor. Her professional work includes suicide-prevention education, crisis intervention, trauma-informed practice, mental health and wellness, and community education.
In 2025, Dr. Jackson was appointed as an International Executive Fellow of the Fathers and Families Coalition of America for the July 2025–June 2028 term. Through that role, she contributes her clinical, academic and community perspective to FFCA's broader commitment to strengthening people, families, professionals and communities.
Featured Publication
Let Me Catch The Fire While I Can
Dr. Jackson's leadership extends beyond the classroom, counseling environment and conference stage. Her faith-based publication, Let Me Catch The Fire While I Can, brings another dimension of her voice to readers exploring faith, purpose, resilience and personal transformation.
Published by Borinquen Within Press
Listen. Care. Connect.
Strengthening mental health awareness, supporting families and
building communities prepared to respond when conversations matter most.