Educators, Administrators, School Counselors, and all those who interact with children in a school setting must be prepared to act when someone is at risk for suicide.  Schools should have a suicide crisis plan in place prior to any suicide loss. This suicide crisis plan should include protocols with clear, specific plans for addressing how to meet the needs of youths who have expressed suicidal plans or have attempted suicide. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) provides key steps for establishing a suicide crisis plan.  They include the following:

• Suicide-risk protocols should specify who will make decisions regarding the safety of the youths and how decisions will be made in the event of a suicide-related crisis. These protocols also should specify what steps must be taken by key personnel, include instructions on how assessment and management information will be documented and communicated, and establish procedures for follow-up with suicidal individuals and their caregivers.
• Youth-serving organizations should ensure that staff members have access to the protocols and receive training on how to respond when an individual is identified as having attempted or is considering suicide.
• Suicide prevention and early identification programs should have a suicide prevention–trained clinician on staff or accessible through established linkages. This clinician should be prepared to provide timely crisis intervention, help to determine whether a youth is at immediate risk, and determine whether the youth require a more intensive evaluation.
• A decision-making plan should be developed regarding the involvement of at-risk youths’ parents. In cases of abuse or neglect, it may be best to not first involve parents or family. In these cases, the plan should provide for ways to involve another responsible adult (e.g., guidance counselor).
• Whether a youth is considering or has attempted suicide, the response protocol should include a safety plan, which outlines collaborative steps for ensuring safety and for identifying behavioral alternatives to suicide. Safety planning, at a minimum, should:
• include a formal plan for what the youth should do (e.g., engage in self-soothing behaviors, call or talk with a support person) in the event that he or she is not feeling confident about his or her ability to not act on suicidal thoughts.
• provide emergency contact information (e.g., after-hours phone numbers for treatment providers and/or emergency services, number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline— 988.
• include education for individuals and families about the importance of removing or limiting access to potentially lethal methods of self-harm.
• Protocols for working with suicidal youths should include a focus on facilitating entry into treatment and educating youths and their families regarding the importance of support services. Efforts should be made to identify barriers to entering or receiving treatment (e.g., transportation, financial, or language difficulties; lack of insurance; work hours; attitudes about mental health services; or distrust of authorities). When possible, steps should be taken to discuss and resolve these barriers with the youth and family to reduce the degree to which these barriers may interfere with receipt of care.
• Routine and rapid follow-up contact with suicidal individuals following crises—including those discharged from emergency and in-patient departments—should be done to determine whether there has been follow-through with aftercare recommendations. Follow-up contact should be regular and ongoing until the youth’s risk, verified by a suicide prevention–trained clinician, is being safely managed outside of the context of the crisis response. (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2020).

 

 

South Dakota Codified Law 13-42-71 requires anyone applying for an initial or renewal certificate as a teacher, administrator, or other education professional to participate in a minimum of one clock hour of suicide awareness and prevention training.

 

13-42-71. Suicide awareness and prevention training requirements.

The South Dakota Board of Education Standards shall promulgate rules, pursuant to chapter 1-26, to include a minimum of one hour of suicide awareness and prevention training as a requirement that an applicant must meet in order to be issued an initial certificate and a renewal certificate as a teacher, administrator, or other educational professional. The board shall, after consultation with suicide prevention or counseling experts, identify evidence-based resources that will fulfill the suicide awareness and prevention training requirement and shall make the list of the resources available to school districts. The training required may be accomplished through self-review of suicide prevention materials that meet the guidelines developed by the board. The requirement for suicide awareness and prevention training for initial certification or to renew a certificate begins after July 1, 2017.
Source: SL 2016, ch 94, § 1; SL 2017, ch 81, § 57.

 

 

South Dakota Suicide Prevention Plan

In 2019, Governor Kristi Noem tasked state agencies, including the SD Department of Education, to craft a state-wide suicide prevention strategic plan.  The working group that drafted that strategic plan, identified priority strategies to focus on.  A top priority included providing crisis model policies that may be adopted by schools. The 2020 Priority Strategies are outlined in four key steps:

 

South Dakota Suicide Prevention.org

SouthDakotaSuicidePrevention.org provides valuable resources to help schools draft a policy.  Those resources include a link to The Model School District Policy on Suicide Prevention: Model Language, Commentary, and Resources

This guide gives educators and school administrators clear guidance on how to implement suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention policies in their school districts. The document was created by the American School Counselor Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, The Trevor Project, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Resources

School administrators, educators and staff are all critical stakeholders of any suicide prevention plan.  To prepare school staff to recognize the signs and symptoms of suicidal behaviors and equip them with the tools necessary to save a life, the South Dakota School Safety Center recommends the following suicide prevention resources:

• Youth Mental Health First Aid.  Youth Mental Health First Aid is an 8-hour public education program that introduces adults to the unique risk factors and warning signs of mental health problems in adolescents, builds understanding of the importance of early intervention, and teaches individuals how to help youth in crisis or experiencing a mental health challenge. Call the School Safety Center at 605-381-1814 or 605-400-3832 to learn more.
• South Dakota Department of Social Services/Division of Behavioral Health. 1-855-878-6057 or 605-367-5236.
• SouthDakotaSuicidePrevention.org . Schools are a key setting for suicide prevention.  Teachers, behavioral health providers and all other school personnel who interact with students can play an important role in keeping them safe.  This helps create an entire school community that is prepared to assist someone at risk of suicide.  SouthDakotaSuicidePrevention.org provides a list of downloadable suicide prevention resources for schools including training, recommended programming, and resources at the following link.
• The Model School District Policy on Suicide Prevention: Model Language, Commentary, and Resources. The Model School District Policy on Suicide Prevention provides a thorough plan for school districts to implement suicide prevention policies in their community.
• Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Technical Assistance Center. The REMS TA Center offers a variety of Federal agency partner resources related to planning for adversarial and human-caused threats that may affect school district, school, community partners and parents, including resources on suicide awareness and prevention.
• The Jason Foundation. The Jason Foundation is dedicated to the prevention youth suicide through educational and awareness programs that equip young people, educators/youth workers and parents with the tools and resources to help identify and assist at-risk youth.
• The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is a voluntary health organization that gives those affected by suicide a nationwide community empowered by research, education, and advocacy to take action against this leading cause of death.  AFSP is dedicated to saving lives and bringing hope to those affected by suicide. 
• The Trevor Project. The Trevor Project is the world’s largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning young people)
• National Center for School Safety. The National Center for School Safety is focused on improving school safety and preventing violence.