Our History

Chaucie Quillen was born on September 3, 1974. She grew up in Carmel, where she excelled in both academics and athletics. It seemed Chaucie had a wonderful life. In reality, her father had been sexually abusing her since she was 10 years of age. Chaucie found the courage to report her abuse when she was 18. Her father was prosecuted, but after a two-week trial the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict. The case was subsequently resolved through plea negotiations and Chaucie’s father received a sentence on charges of sexual battery. The strain of her abuse by her father and the inability of the legal system to adequately address her case took its toll and on December 26, 1995 Chaucie took her own life. Everyone involved in Chaucie’s case wondered what could have been done differently and how to prevent this outcome from happening to other victims of abuse in Hamilton County. This became the driving force behind creating Chaucie’s Place on April 30, 2001.

Our focus has always been on preventing abuse and suicide through evidence-based curriculum that educates and empowers both youth and adults alike. These efforts and our growing list of community partners has given us the opportunity to impact thousands of children in Hamilton County since 2001.

After recent legislation was passed, an enormous opportunity presented itself to broaden our reach and impact across Indiana. Our vision has grown, which required the expansion of our name to cover the entire state and blend our current and future programming offerings. Chaucie’s Place became the Indiana Center for Prevention of Youth Abuse & Suicide in 2019.

We haven’t changed our focus or the belief in what we do or why we do it. Rather, it was a powerful way to build on a legacy of courage, strength, and empowerment that Chaucie herself embodied.

We will continue our mission of prevention...
We will continue our commitment to education...
We will never stop making a difference in the lives of the children and adults we serve.