Florida School Toolkit for K-12 Educators to Prevent Suicide

TEN THINGS SMHPs CAN DO TO PREVENT YOUTH SUICIDE It is important to be aware that schools cannot alone provide all the needed treatment for suicidal students, not even SMHPs. Specifically, National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) best practices explain that a school’s responsibility is to screen students, notify their parents, recommend community services, and provide follow up at school. One resource that is very beneficial for SMHPs is from Richard Lieberman and Scott Poland’s “Suicide Prevention Legislation: What School Psychologists Need to Know and Do.” The authors made 10 recommendations for school psychologists regarding suicide prevention in their schools. This 2017 article was originally created for school psychologists; however, we have recreated it to be applicable to all SMHPs. 1. Be the advocate for suicide prevention in your district and help your district comply with relevant Florida state laws. 2. Review model policies—such as the one developed jointly by the Trevor Foundation, NASP, AFSP, and ASCA in 2019—to reevaluate your district policies and procedures and determine if additional strategies are necessary for suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention. 3. Provide suicide prevention training annually for all school staff members who have direct contact with students even though it is not mandated by the state of Florida. 4. Review all the high-quality suicide and crisis resources from NASP. 5. Make a commitment to staying current in the field of youth suicide prevention by attending NASP, ASCA, FASP, and other professional conferences. 6. Seek input from the suicide prevention advocates in your county and state. 7. Search out local offices or chapters of the Jason Foundation, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and American Association of Suicidology, and visit their websites and online resources. 8. Check out the resources of the national Suicide Prevention Resource Center and sign up for their electronic weekly publication, Spark . 9. Prepare for suicide postvention by downloading the latest version of AFSP/SPRC's After a Suicide: Toolkit for Schools . 10. Advocate for suicide prevention efforts in Florida and continue to keep up with legislation. Florida S.T.E.P.S.