Suicide Prevention

Youth Suicide Prevention		The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a 24-hour, toll-free suicide prevention service available to anyone in suicidal crisis. If you need help, please dial 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

Youth Suicide Prevention Workshop Calendar


Introduction
Although adults don't often know about it, many Wisconsin youth experience symptoms of depression, think about suicide, make plans to die by suicide, and even make a suicide attempt each year. This web page is dedicated to providing information and resources for youth suicide prevention to school staff, administrators, boards, and other members of the school community including parents.


Data about Youth Suicide
The most recent multi-year data available (1999-2005) puts Wisconsin's suicide completion rate at 13th highest in the US for youth ages 10-19, and 5th highest for middle school students age 10-14. Wisconsin's youth suicide rate has exceeded the national average in 23 of the last 25 years. We lose an average of one young person per week to suicide in our state; it is our second leading cause of death, and accounts for more than 17% of all deaths among youth. The statistics are alarming and shed light on a topic that is not often discussed until there is a tragedy.

Fact sheet on youth suicide risk factors, attempts, and deaths in Wisconsin


Laws covering suicide prevention and intervention
There are a variety of laws that pertain to youth suicide prevention. One law requires schools to educate students about suicide prevention using health curriculum. A different state law insulates all public and private school district employees and volunteers from civil liability for their acts and omissions when trying to intervene in a student's suicide. The legislature found it so important that adults take action when a student is suicidal, that they insulated those adults from civil liability for their efforts with suicidal students. Staff members and volunteers should feel safe in doing their best to identify and help suicidal students.

Fact sheet on laws pertaining to suicide prevention


Required Notice of Youth Suicide Prevention Resources
In the spring of 2008, a new Wisconsin law governing school-based youth suicide prevention was passed by the legislature and signed by Governor Doyle. Wisconsin statute, s. 115.365, Assistance to schools for suicide prevention programs, requires that, "Each school board and the governing body of each private school annually shall inform their professional staff of the resources available from the department and other sources regarding suicide prevention." It also requires the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) to create a model notice of suicide prevention resources and services available in the state. We encourage districts to use this model notice with all staff members; anyone who has a relationship with a student should be able to recognize suicide warning signs and know how to respond. There are a variety of changes districts can easily make to customize this model notice, including the addition of any local resources. Consider providing information about local mental health providers, county mental health boards and available crisis services, and local chapters of the organizations already listed. None of the material is covered by copyright; districts are free to put the notice on district letterhead and to make copies or forward it electronically to anyone.

DPI's Model Notice of Youth Suicide Prevention resources


Classroom Curriculum on Youth Suicide Prevention
As mentioned above, state law requires schools to educate students about suicide prevention using health curriculum. Working with health educators from around the state, DPI has created a model health class curriculum for middle and high school that meets all the requirements in state law. On our Suicide Prevention Curriculum page, you can download these curricula as well as learn about additional reasons to educate students, how to educate them in a way that doesn't raise risk factors, and ways to connect your classroom education to other activities in your school.

DPI's Suicide Prevention Curriculum web page


Web-Based Suicide Prevention Training for All School Staff
This is a simple and effective skill-building presentation for all school staff members. Research has shown that brief training for adults is effective at increasing their capacity to identify, support, and refer at-risk youth. This type of workshop is often referred to as "Gatekeeper Training," because people who get trained are able to work with kids to get through a gateway to getting help. Suicide is often an impulsive act by a young person who doesn't understand how to effectively cope with life's challenges. Through training, staff members understand that they do not need to be mental health professionals to help a student in crisis. Nor do they increase the risk of suicide by asking if students have thought about hurting themselves. Once they know the simple steps, they reduce the likelihood of suicides in their students. The training resources include a 25-minute web-based workshop for school staff.

DPI's Suicide Prevention Web-Based Training Page


School or Community Memorials for Students Who Have Died by Suicide
Memorials can be a very sensitive issue to parents and loved ones of youth who have died by suicide. Sometimes it is difficult to understand why public memorials are not appropriate for youth who have died by suicide. Survivors may feel that it's unfair that students who die in accidents or of illness are memorialized, but not their child or loved one. The reason is that by memorializing a student who dies of accident or illness we don't increase the likelihood of other students dying the same way. The same is not true about suicide; a youth who is struggling with a major crisis may consider suicide a viable option. This is based on research showing that memorials can cause suicidal thinking. "..public eulogies, flying flags at half-mast, and erecting permanent public memorials..may contribute to suicide contagion by suggesting to susceptible persons that society is honoring the suicidal behavior of the deceased person, rather than mourning the person's death." Centers for Disease Control, MMWR, Recommendations and Reports, April 22, 1994 / 43(RR-6); 9-18. So, while it doesn't make obvious sense to adults who are thinking rationally, memorializing suicide victims may raise suicide rates.

Suggestions for Memorials in Schools

• Do allow students and staff to express their grief in a tangible way, possibly by making donations to a crisis line or one of the other suicide prevention resources listed below.
• Don't allow memorials that increase likelihood of suicide contagion, i.e. planting trees, erecting plaques in the school or community, etc.
• Don't name a scholarship after a youth who has died by suicide. Instead, make contributions to a general scholarship fund if there is one available.
• Do include in the School Board Policy manual a statement about memorials for students who died by suicide that is consistent with the information above. For more information, The Suicide Prevention Resource Center publishes "After a Suicide: Recommendations for Religious Services and Other Public Memorial Observances."
• Consider bringing an evidence-based youth suicide prevention program to your school, district, or region. See an example at the SOS web site.

DPI's Full-Day Youth Suicide Prevention Workshop
DPI has trained thousands of school staff to use a 3-tiered prevention and intervention model and the health classroom curriculum mentioned above. We regularly update our presentations using recent research and improved programming. The workshop helps participants understand the scope of youth suicide and what schools can do to reduce suicidal acts and thoughts among students. Participants learn about the prevalence of youth suicide, risk and protective factors, comprehensive prevention programs, and crisis intervention. We discuss legal requirements, and help you gain new knowledge and skills to improve classroom instruction at the middle- and high-school level. This workshop is not intended to train all school staff (see Web-Based Suicide Prevention Training for All School Staff above); rather it prepares teams of pupil services staff, health educators, and administrators to plan, prevent, and intervene at their schools. Action planning is integrated into all phases of the training program. We offer this workshop many times each year throughout the state, and actively seek new invitations using our training flyer linked below. Feel free to contact our staff to find scheduled workshops in your area, to schedule a new workshop, or for contact information to schedule a workshop through your CESA.

Youth Suicide Prevention Training Flyer


Other Resources

• In 2006, Wisconsin received a $1.2 Million grant from the federal government to support youth suicide prevention efforts in selected schools and communities around the state. You can learn more about the grant activities as well as other statewide suicide prevention initiatives on the web site of the Mental Health America of Wisconsin. In particular, their Youth Suicide Prevention Resources will be useful for schools and communities wishing to collaborate to end youth suicide. The mission of MHA is to promote mental health, prevent mental disorders, and achieve victory over mental illness through advocacy, education, information and support. They provide information about mental health and mental illness to individuals, professional organizations and the community. As part of our grant activities, DPI collaborated with MHA of Wisconsin to create a 3-part series of "Well Aware Bulletins" geared to those who want to take steps toward suicide prevention in their schools. The bulletins can be especially useful for beginning conversations with administrators. Simply download the bulletin below and print in color or black and white on 11 x 17 paper.
  • Download Issue 1: Awareness/Resources
  • Download Issue 2: Legal Issues
  • Download Issue 3: Resiliency
  
  
• Helping Others Prevent and Educate about Suicide (HOPES) is an organization of volunteers who help others through education and advocacy for suicide prevention. They offer many useful resources including a survivor's guide and groups for people affected by suicide.
  
  
• The Youth Suicide Prevention School-Based Guide is a publication developed by the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute at the University of South Florida. It is not a program but a tool that provides a framework for schools to assess their existing or proposed suicide prevention efforts (through a series of checklists) and provides resources and information to enhance or add to existing programs.
  
  
• The Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC), established in 2002, supports suicide prevention to advance the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention (NSSP). SPRC provides prevention support, training, and resource materials to strengthen suicide prevention networks and is the first federally funded center of its kind. SPRC is a training and technical resource center that builds capacity for States and communities to implement and evaluate suicide prevention programs. One important resource for school professionals is "Assessing and Managing Suicide Risk" (AMSR): The AMSR is a one-day, knowledge-based training that covers 24 competencies required for effective assessment and management of individuals at risk for suicide. See the American Association of Suicidology link below for more information about suicide risk assessment training.
  
  
• The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is dedicated to understanding and preventing suicide through research and education, and to reaching out to people with mood disorders and those impacted by suicide.
  
  
• The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a 24-hour, toll-free suicide prevention service available to anyone in suicidal crisis. If you need help or you are concerned about someone else, please dial 1-800-273-TALK (8255). You will be routed to the closest possible crisis center in your area. With more than 130 crisis centers across the country, their mission is to provide immediate assistance to anyone seeking mental health services. They also support a suicide prevention page on MySpace.
  
  
• The American Association of Suicidology (AAS) works to understand and prevent suicide by directing efforts to advance the study of suicide as a science, encouraging the development and application of strategies that reduce the incidence and prevalence of suicidal behaviors. Two important resources for school personnel are:
  • Recognizing and Responding to Suicide Risk (RRSR): Essential Skills for Clinicians-Adolescent Version. RRSR is an interactive training based on the core competencies mental health professionals need to know and be able to apply in order to effectively assess and manage suicide risk. The RRSR is a two-day, knowledge-and-skills training. The RRSR provides practice in applying this knowledge to clinical cases. The AMSR training listed above under the SPRC web page is a prerequisite for RRSR training.
  • AAS also offers a School Suicide Prevention Accreditation Program for school psychologists, social workers, counselors, nurses, and all others dedicated to or responsible for reducing the incidence of suicide and suicidal behaviors among today's school-age youth.

For questions about this information, contact John P. Humphries (608) 266-7189

Last updated on 9/30/2008 9:52:52 AM