Florida School Toolkit for K-12 Educators to Prevent Suicide

Responding to a Student Who is at Risk of Suicide The training outlined earlier will prepare school staff members to be alert and responsive to distressed students. What we haven’t mentioned is the part that a student or parent plays in alerting staff members to warning signs and getting assistance for their friend or loved one. Training for students, such as the SOS program, needs to be conducted in the classroom. Parents should be educated as well. Appendix 3 has questions and answers from educators, parents, and students. Tool 29 has key information that can be posted to the school district’s website. • Many times, a friend, parent, or alert staff member will report a concern to the appropriate person such as the school counselor. Sometimes, however, the student who is in distress will self -report. Tool 8 identifies the steps the counselor /suicide prevention expert should take upon notification, while Tool 16 provides a blank report form. - The designated suicide prevention expert will conduct an initial assessment of the student to determine if he or she is at risk (Tools 14a–14c), a safety plan will be developed with student (Tool 17), parents will be notified (Tool 18), an in-person conference will be held, and a referral to community mental health resources will be made. See Tool 28a for a detailed list of questions to ask community mental health providers. See Tool 28b for a list of questions concerning treatment facilities. • Community or regional mental health resources ideally should be identified prior to a suicide crisis, preapproved by district administration, and readily available. A guide to their identification includes - phone interviews (Tool 28a) to determine if the providers are trained in suicide assessment and management and have experience with school- age youth - a cooperative relationship between the mental health provider and the district and school and, with parent permission, the ability to share appropriate information with designated school staff members for the purpose of a smooth reentry to school - a list of prescreened providers that is readily available to the staff members whose role it is to respond to students and to make recommendations to parents • Administrators, counselors, and the designated suicide prevention expert must understand the importance of a reentry and monitoring procedure (Tool 20). Teachers need to know that suicide is a concern so they can be alert for further warning signs. • In the event a death by suicide cannot be prevented, postvention procedures are extremely critical for the benefit of the family, grieving students and staff members, and for educating the school and community. Key messages are that no one thing or no one person is to blame. (For guidance, see Section 3: Postvention After a Suicide). School personnel have also frequently asked if every student threat of suicide needs to be taken seriously and have commented that many times a student is perhaps just seeking attention or is trying to manipulate a situation. The answer is that every student threat of suicide must be taken seriously, even with elementary age students, and the assessment steps outlined below must be followed. Taking suicidal threats seriously and notifying parents will save lives. Secondarily, this will also protect school personnel from liability. Creating a culture that promotes wellness, mental health, and connectedness; respecting students; and honoring their emotional and academic needs will go a long way toward preventing suicide. All students, staff members, and parents need to know how to get help for themselves or others should the suicide warning signs arise. Responses and Procedures Florida S.T.E.P.S.