To assist school districts with the concerns about youth suicide, the following resources are available for dealing with suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention (sometimes referred to as "aftermath"). Some sites provide factual data and others contain programs. For more Web information, contact the coordinator for pupil services in your school district or county office of education. Counseling and student support specialists (school counselors, school psychologists, school social workers, and school nurses) and local mental health specialists should be consulted for individual student referrals.
Legislation
Education Code Section 41533
This statute authorizes school districts to use a portion of their Professional Development Block Grant funding to pay for suicide prevention training for school teachers. The teacher training is not to exceed two hours and may occur during a regularly scheduled in-service day.
Education Code Section 49604
This statute authorizes the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to encourage each middle school, junior high school, and high school to provide suicide prevention training to each school counselor at least one time while employed as a counselor.
Publications
Mental Health Services Act Suicide Prevention California Strategic Plan for Suicide Prevention (Outside Source)
The Department of Mental Health (DMH) has several initiatives related to suicide prevention. These include the development of a Suicide Prevention Plan and other state initiatives related to suicide prevention.
Youth Suicide-Prevention Guidelines for California Schools (PDF; 297KB; 20pp.) | DOC (171KB; 20pp.)
The guidelines are available to assist schools to develop and implement plans for youth suicide prevention, intervention, and aftermath. The guidelines blend information from a variety of expert sources and are intended to help school communities in their school planning and prevention efforts. Counseling, student support specialists, and local mental health specialists should be consulted for planning and implementing school plans or for individual student referrals regarding youth suicide.
Youth Suicide Prevention School-Based Guide (PDF; Outside Source)
This resource is another guide for schools to use in developing suicide prevention materials, including a tool kit and an annotated bibliography that was used in developing the guide. Funding to support development of these materials was provided through a contract from the Florida Office of Drug Control.
Fact Sheets on Suicide: Adolescents and Young Adults (PDF; Outside Source)
The National Adolescent Health Information Center - University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine Web site highlights some important research results on suicide. It provides information about the age adolescents are most likely to commit suicide, how gender and race impact adolescents in regard to suicide, and examines the suicide rate trends for adolescents. This Suicide Fact Sheet was published in 2006 and is based on the most current data available.
State Plans for Suicide Prevention (Outside Source)
The Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) has a listing of states that have suicide prevention plans.
Resources
Jason Foundation, Inc. (Outside Source)
This site is sponsored by the nonprofit Jason Foundation, Inc., a nationally recognized leader in youth suicide awareness and prevention. It contains a wide range of informative, educational materials and programs available to parents, teachers, youth workers, and others who are concerned about youth suicide.
National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (Outside Source)
The National Strategy for Suicide Prevention provides a framework for suicide prevention efforts across the county. Building on the work of the Surgeon General’s Call to Action, this website contains resources on data about suicide as well as information about suicide prevention efforts throughout the nation. Information about California’s suicide prevention activities can be found by clicking on “Federal, State and private activities” and selecting from the drop down menu under "Prevention Programs."
Surgeon General's Call to Action (Outside Source)
Surgeon General’s National Call to action 1999 promotes awareness and intervention for suicide and its risk factors. The report includes a section dedicated to suicide issues and facts among young people.
Guidelines for School-Based Suicide Prevention Programs (Outside Source)
(Click on the topic "Prevention" in the left column on the left)
The American Association of Suicidology (AAS) has general guidelines for a school based suicide prevention program. It outlines the necessary components of a comprehensive school-based program and includes a sample curriculum. This site also contains information about evidence based programs for suicide prevention.
Youth Suicide Prevention (Outside Source)
The American Foundation of Suicide Prevention (AFSP) Teen Suicide Prevention Campaign has information on warning signs for depression in teens and concrete steps that parents can take to help their child, and strategies for youth who suspect that a friend may be at risk of suicide. This site also has information for coping with loss after a suicide and links to support groups for survivors.
Suicide Prevention Materials and Data Collection Resources (Outside Source)
The California Healthy Kids Resource Center Web site contains peer-reviewed research-based programs, videos, and books on suicide prevention and intervention. To access these materials, click on “Health Education Library” and use the key word "suicide." These materials can be borrowed from the resource center for four weeks with free delivery anywhere in California.
In addition, districts can elect to collect data about suicide risk behaviors as part of their regular California Healthy Kids Survey process. For more information, contact the Healthy Kids Survey Helpline (Outside Source) at 888-841-7536.
Youth Suicide Prevention Programs: A Resource Guide (Outside Source)
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Web site contains a resource guide which includes eight different suicide prevention strategies that can be downloaded using Adobe Acrobat. Strategies include school gatekeeper training, community gatekeeper training, general suicide education, screening programs, peer support programs, crisis centers and hotlines, suicide restriction methods, and postvention. Although it was created in 1992, the site remains relevant.
School Intervention to Prevent Youth Suicide (Outside Source)
The Center for Mental Health in Schools-Mental Health Project, UCLA Web site is a thorough resource for school interventions aimed at preventing suicide. It includes training on causes of suicide, data and statistics about suicide, assessing suicide risk, intervention planning and training, suicide aftermath assistance and prevention of copycat suicides, and a list of hotlines, references, Web sites, consultation cadre contacts, and other related resources from the Center.
On-line Training Workshops (Outside Source)
The National Center for Suicide Prevention Training Web site provides educational resources to assist public officials, service providers, and community-based coalitions develop effective suicide prevention programs and policies. It includes facilitated and self-paced on-line workshops that provide training on suicide prevention.
A Technical Assistance Sampler on School Interventions to Prevent Youth Suicide (Outside Source)
(Use the "Search and Quick Find" link and in the "Select a Center Topic" drop-down menu select "Suicide Prevention.) The School Mental Health Project, University of California Los Angeles comprehensive Web site, revised in 2003, provides excellent technical information and assistance related to suicide, its prevention, assessing suicide risk, intervention planning and training, aftermath assistance, and prevention of copycat suicides. It provides key references and major Web site links.
Signs of Suicide (SOS) - High School Suicide Prevention Program (Outside Source)
The Screening for Mental Health (SMH) Web site describes the SOS Suicide Prevention Program, a school-based suicide prevention program targeting high school students. SMH, a nonprofit organization from Wellesley, MA, provides program kits for a cost of $150, which includes material for 500 students. The program educates teens in recognizing the signs of suicide and outlines action steps for dealing with this mental health emergency. The National Association of Schools Psychologists and many other national associations endorse SOS.
Dougy Center (Outside Source)
This site is sponsored by the nonprofit Dougy Center, National Center for Grieving Children & Families. The Center provides support and training locally, nationally, and internationally to individuals and organizations seeking to assist children and teens in grief from loss, including suicide.
Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program (Outside Source)
The Light for Life Foundation International Web site provides information about the Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program. The program is part of the Light for Life Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to awareness, education, and collaboration for suicide prevention. There is a cost for Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Training and to form local chapters.
