Florida School Toolkit for K-12 Educators to Prevent Suicide

Each Florida school board should adopt a suicide prevention policy that addresses prevention, intervention, and postvention. The policy should outline the training that will be provided to staff and students and the programs that will be implemented. Florida schools have varying levels of policies or suicide prevention plans in place. Each school system is encouraged to review Tool 6 in developing their policy and plan. Starting Considerations • A model policy can best be developed by creating a suicide prevention task force that includes community members, reviews local and state models, and is familiar with the evidenced-based best practices for suicide prevention in schools. • The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention ( afsp.org ) in the fall of 2019 released a Model School District Policy on Suicide Prevention. • The Suicide Prevention Resource Center ( sprc.org ) has a section entitled “Programs with Evidence of Effectiveness” that includes programs previously listed in NREPP. • Suicide prevention information provided for staff and students should be selected very carefully and use best practices. Schools are strongly encouraged to ensure that any videos about suicide are approved by the administration or curriculum director before being shown to staff or students. It is also strongly recommended that any speakers on the topic of suicide be researched carefully and, ideally, that they have a background in the mental health field. School assemblies on suicide are not recommended due to the dramatic nature of bringing all students together and because students are unlikely to ask questions in a large group setting. It is also difficult to monitor their reactions in a large group setting. Suicide is best discussed in a classroom setting with the session led by a counselor or psychologist with the teacher present and invested in prevention. • Review incidence of suicidal thoughts, plans, attempts, and deaths by suicide for youth both locally and at the state and national level. • Consider at-risk populations within the school district, such as LGBTQ students, bullying victims and perpetrators, homeless youth, students in foster care, and students engaging in self-injury (Tool 10). • Create a district suicide prevention task force that partners with community resources. • Train and share any information with target groups, including staff members, students, community groups, and parents that provide suicide prevention education and crisis resources (Tools and Appendices include numerous documents for educating each group.) • Assess and identify processes that adhere to best practices and evidenced-based prevention programs. • Implement procedures to notify parents when a student is suspected of being suicidal (Tool 18). • Consider a referral process that includes identified community resource providers that KEY COMPONENTS OF A MODEL SUICIDE AWARENESS, PREVENTION, AND RESPONSE POLICY Florida S.T.E.P.S.