This one-hour self-paced course is a guide for school-based or community-based mental health professionals to train school staff to lead Kentucky’s suicide prevention course for students in grades 6-12.
The course also reviews the comprehensive suicide prevention training used with students in Jefferson County Public Schools, how to involve parents, and how to use the tools available for risk assessment and other resources. Topics include how to give students a voice in the training, how to recognize signs of suicidal ideation, how to deal with social media pressures, and how students can find help for themselves or their peers in distress.
The course also examines how schools can support student well-being by taking a strength-based perspective on mental health. This course is designed to be a mid-year refresher offered prior to going into winter break.
KRS 156.095(6) requires every public school to provide suicide prevention awareness information in person, by live streaming, or via a video recording to all students in grades 6-12 by September 15.
KRS 156.095(6) also requires every public school to provide a minimum of one hour of high-quality suicide prevention training, including the recognition of signs and symptoms of possible mental illness, for all school district employees with job duties requiring direct contact with students in grades 6-12. The statute says the training shall be provided either in person, by live streaming, or via a video recording and may be included in the four days of professional development under KRS 158.070(3).
At the end of the course, you will earn a Certificate of Completion for one hour of EILA Credit.