OSCA Position

School counselors work to protect the health and well-being of all students, and have an ethical obligation to pursue all concerns related to suicide ideation. School counselors are specially situated in the school setting to lead suicide prevention and intervention efforts and should exercise reasonable care when a student poses serious and foreseeable harm to self, utilizing district-approved Suicide-Information Gathering Tools (IGTs) that:

• Are student centered
• Ask clearly and directly about suicide
• Do not quantify risk
• Partner with parents/guardians
• Plan for safety at school

The School Counselor’s Training

School personnel identified as responsible for suicide screening (i.e., school counselors, school social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, administrators) need to be equipped to have in-depth conversations about suicide with individual students and their families within a building and district suicide care prevention plan. This means ensuring that those identified personnel have:

1. Awareness of resources and supports for students and families for referrals (e.g. local crisis supports, counseling options)
2. Access to clear policies and procedures named in their district’s Adi’s Act plan around suicide screening and safety planning, including district office awareness and support for the Adi’s Act plan
3. Availability of a second trained person to consult with in determining which supports, resources, and referrals a student and family may need

Here are current trainings offered in Oregon for evidence-based and best practice for suicide screening and safety planning.

The School Counselor's Role

Prevention

School counselors advocate for comprehensive district policies around suicide prevention that are student centered and trauma informed; that provide developmentally appropriate student instruction on the importance of safe and healthy choices, coping strategies and how to identify warning signs of suicide in themselves and others; and that educate staff to recognize risk factors, warning signs, protective factors, response procedures, referrals, postvention and resources regarding youth suicide prevention.

Intervention

School counselors inform parents/guardians and school administration when a student poses a serious and foreseeable risk of harm to self or others. This notification is to be done after careful deliberation and consultation with appropriate professionals and/or an interdisciplinary crisis team.

*If parent/guardian abuse or neglect is the expressed reason for the student’s suicidal ideation, it is best practice for the school counselor to contact child protective services rather than the parents/guardians in an effort to protect the student and ensure the student’s safety and well-being (ASCA, 2020).

If school counselors are required to use assessments, screenings or any type of instrument to determine the suicide risk, they advocate for the use of an evidence-based tool and does not negate the risk of students’ potential harm to self even if the assessment reveals a low risk. In addition, school counselors understand that risk assessments are just one component of the assessment process and, therefore, should be used with caution and for the purpose of information-gathering (ASCA, 2022).

Parents/guardians are always contacted and notified of anything learned regarding potential suicide ideation that will guide parents/guardians in efforts to protect their child (Stone, 2022). School counselors provide culturally responsive mental health resources to parents/guardians and recommendations for next steps, and follow state legislation and district policy when responding to suicide concern. School counselors discuss with parents/guardians safety proofing of home and all environments that student frequents to secure and remove all access to firearms and other lethal means of suicide.

School counselors engage appropriate emergency response personnel. When a student is actively suicidal and/or already accessed lethal means (i.e. medical overdose, poison, etc.), school staff should immediately contact appropriate emergency response personnel per federal, state and local laws as well as school district policy (e.g., administrators, 911 dispatcher, child protective services, law enforcement).

Postvention

Following a suicidal crisis and/or a psychiatric hospitalization, school counselors meet with the student’s parents/guardians, other relevant staff and, if appropriate, include the student to discuss re-entry and address next steps needed to ensure the student’s readiness and safety considerations for their return to school.

Following a suicide loss, school counselors, as part of a team, will collaborate in taking the following steps to assist with the grief process, reduce the risk of contagion and provide needed support:

• Mobilize a crisis response team
• Contact the family of the deceased student
• Notify staff, students, parents/guardians
• Monitor student and community reactions (e.g., social media)
• Provide additional support resources if needed

Summary

In accordance with Senate Bill 52 (Adi’s Act), Oregon school districts are required to develop comprehensive procedures related to student suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention and should develop coordinated staff training on 1) suicide prevention and suicide prevention initiatives, 2) targeted training for school counselors and other mental health professionals on supporting students with thoughts of suicide, and 3) procedures for promoting healing after a suicide (SB 52 Draft Guidance, 2020).  School counselors are specially situated in the school setting to lead suicide prevention and intervention efforts by utilizing district-approved suicide Information Gathering Tools.

In accordance with Adi’s Act, school counselors’ implementation of suicide prevention, intervention and postvention efforts are critical in reducing the threat of youth suicide and supporting student well-being.

The Rationale for Suicide-Information Gathering Tools in Schools

OSCA recommends that school counselors follow the guidelines outlined by ASCA regarding the use of Suicide-Information Gathering Tools. Here is the link specifying the rationale and research for utilizing Information Gathering Tools rather than assessment screenings.

For more information regarding concerns around Suicide Risk Assessments, please reference the American School Counseling Association’s Position Statement on the School Counselor and Suicide Risk Assessment, found at https://www.schoolcounselor.org/Standards-Positions/Position-Statements/ASCA-Position-Statements/The-School-Counselor-and-Suicide-Risk-Assessment

References

• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, American School Counselor Association, National Association of School Psychologists & The Trevor Project (2019). Model school district policy on suicide prevention: Model language, commentary, and resources (2nd ed.). New York: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
• American School Counselor Association. (2022). Ethical standards for school counselors. ttps://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/44f30280-ffe8-4b41-9ad8-f15909c3d164/EthicalStandards.pdf
• Ayer, L., & Colpe, L. J. (2023). The Key Role of Schools in Youth Suicide Prevention. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 62(1), 19–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2022.06.022
• Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023).Facts about suicide: Disparities in suicide. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/facts/disparities-in-suicide.html#:~:text=Youth%20and%20young%20adults%20ages,lower%20than%20other%20age%20groups.
• Gaylor, E. M., Krause, K. H., Welder, L. E., Cooper, A. C., Ashley, C., Mack, K. A., Crosby, A. E., Trinh, E., Ivey-Stephenson, A. Z., Whittle, L. (2023). 72(1) Suicidal thoughts and behaviors among high school students — Youth risk behavior survey. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/su/su7201a6.htm
• Population Reference Bureau. (2016). Suicide replaces homicide as second-leading cause of death among U.S. teenagers. Retrieved from http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2016/suicide-replaces-homicide-second-leading-cause-death- among-us-teens.aspx
• Senate Bill 52 Draft Guidance (2020). Retrieved from (chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://oregonalliancetopreventsuicide.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/SB-52-Draft-Guidance-October-2020.pdf)
• Stone, C. (2018). Assessments and Third Party Software Alerts for Suicide Ideation. ASCA January/February 2018.
• Stone, C. (2022). School counseling principles: Ethics and law (5th Ed.). American School Counselor Association.

Resources

• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, & Suicide Prevention Resource Center. (2018). After a suicide: A toolkit for schools (2nd ed.). Waltham, MA: Education Development Center. https://www.sprc.org/resources-programs/after-suicide-toolkit-schools
• American School Counselor Association. (2020). Suicide risk assessment. ASCA position statements. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/Standards-Positions/Position-Statements/ASCA-Position-Statements/The-School-Counselor-and-Suicide-Risk-Assessment
• American School Counselor Association. (2020). The school counselor and student mental health. ASCA position statements. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/Standards-Positions/Position-Statements/ASCA-Position-Statements/The-School-Counselor-and-Student-Mental-Health
• American School Counselor Association. (2023). The school counselor and universal screening. ASCA position statements. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/Standards-Positions/Position-Statements/ASCA-Position-Statements/The-School-Counselor-and-Universal-Screening
• American School Counselor Association. (2024). Suicide prevention and response. ASCA Resources. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/Publications-Research/Publications/Free-ASCA-Resources/Suicide-Prevention-and-Response
• American School Counselor Association. (2023). Information-gathering tool: Suicide concern. ASCA Toolkit. https://www.schoolcounselor.org/getmedia/7cfa1f6a-2c5a-4785-90e2-bf515c07232d/suicide-information-gathering-toolkit.pdf

We, Oregon School Counselor Association, are committed to equity, social justice, and anti-racism. As school counselors, we are here to serve and advocate for all students regardless of their immigration status, gender identity, sexuality identity, race, ethnicity, neurodivergence, ability, and religion by working to ensure that they feel safe and cared for in the school community. With the heightened fear and anxiety from our students, families, and the community due to the recent executive order from our current presidency, we want to provide these lists of resources to support our historically marginalized community including our immigrant and refugee students and our LGBTQ2SIA+ students.

We encourage our OSCA members to talk to your colleagues, lean on each other, share resources, and take care of yourselves during this unprecedented time. Please remember that rest is liberation and we need to care for ourselves and our community together.