Tag: suicide

Sources of Strength suicide prevention efforts in KPBSD

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Suicide Prevention and Awareness

“While suicide is sometimes a difficult topic to discuss, it is also paramount that we as a community address it head on. Programs such as Sources of Strength are critical components of our commitment and dedication to support our students through the myriad of issues they may experience throughout their lives.” –Sean Dusek, superintendent

KPBSD is dedicated to provide suicide awareness and wellness education to students, staff, and the greater Kenai Peninsula community. GCI and The Alaska Foundation released a PSA video on September 22, to highlight the work KPBSD is doing with Sources of Strength, through the GCI Suicide Prevention Grant.

September is national suicide awareness month, and the Alaska suicide rate is twice the national average. Several schools are creating a Wall of Hope. In addition, KPBSD received a variety of grants from the Department of Education and Early Development (DEED) and the Alaska Community Foundation to support suicide prevention programming and training to not only our adults, but also our students. In the spring of 2017, over 75 students and adults from Homer, Kenai, and Seward received training in Sources of Strength (SOS). SOS is a strength-based comprehensive wellness program that focuses on suicide prevention but affects other issues such as substance abuse and violence. In early October, Soldotna High School will join the SOS team, and on October 13, high school students from Seward, Homer, Soldotna, and Kenai will participate in a Sources of Strength Upstream Conference in Kenai.

“At the school level, our school psychologists and school counselors are trained and use suicide risk assessments for students who are in need of support,” said Clayton Holland, director of pupil services. “Their good work together with our staff and school administration offer support to at-risk students and provide resources to students and families.”

Several KPBSD counselors are trainers for evidence-based wellness programs such as Youth Mental Health First Aide and The Fourth R. KPBSD will continue to foster and share resources with mental health organizations to increase coordination and support for our students and community members about suicide prevention and wellness.
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Links

GCI Press Release: ‘Sources of Strength’ bolsters suicide prevention efforts on Kenai Peninsula

2017 Sources of Strength training
 

National Suicide Prevention Week #NSPW16

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An open letter to the community from Sean Dusek, Superintendent  of Schools

September 5 – 11, 2016 is National Suicide Prevention Week #NSPW16. World Suicide Prevention Day is September 10, 2016.
Alaska has a high rate of suicide. In 2014, according to the CDC, our state was ranked second in the nation for death by suicide. In that same year, Alaska was rated the highest in the nation for youth ages 15-24, to die by suicide.
Experts believe that most suicidal individuals do not want to die, and they just want to end the pain they are experiencing. Experts also know that suicidal crises tend to be brief.
Our school district and communities are not immune to this public health issue. In several of our schools, staff and students are planning activities to provide support and educational opportunities for their peers, including the creation of a Wall of Hope. A Wall of Hope identifies positive aspects in the lives of students to highlight why living is important to them.
We work diligently to recognize the warning signs and provide as much support as we can to those in need. Our schools are staffed with caring adults who are there to help. Our teachers and staff receive training on suicide prevention and how to identify warning signs.
While prevention is our first priority, we know postvention is a critical component of a comprehensive wellness program when faced with the tragedy of suicide in a community. Postvention has the ability to ease distress, break the cycle of suicide, and be a preventative measure.
While KPBSD’s overall health and wellness curriculum is in place, a high priority need for our district is further education and supports for suicide prevention. Our goal is to create a network of community mental health providers collaborating to develop a purposeful and coordinated community support that responds quickly and effectively to provide safe havens in response to suicide.
This past spring, several high schools hosted You are Not Alone school assemblies. You are Not Alone is a peer-led youth suicide prevention campaign that includes elements of Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR)—an evidence-based training that helps people understand suicide warning signs and how to connect people in crisis to help.
Through a five-year Project AWARE grant, KPBSD will train 125 staff and community members every year on Youth Mental Health First Aid. We are in year two of these trainings. Additionally, KPBSD received the state’s competitive Suicide Awareness Prevention and Postvention Grant (SAPP) and the funds will be used to provide gatekeeper training to staff, students, and any interested community member or organization in the next several years. We will also be developing a suicide awareness toolkit as a community resource.
When suicidal behaviors are detected early, lives can be saved. Please join the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District in supporting suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention. Together we can reduce the number of lives shaken by a needless and tragic death.

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Alaska’s Suicide Prevention and Someone to Talk To Line
Need  to talk ?

phone Call anytime, toll-free:
1-877-266-4357 (HELP)
love or text 4help to 839863
3-11 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday

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You are not alone suicide awareness and prevention assemblies

“You are not alone” suicide awareness and prevention
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This spring, more than one thousand students from Kenai Central High School, Kenai Middle School, Nikiski Middle-High School, Skyview Middle School, Soldotna Prep, and Soldotna High School attended assemblies about suicide awareness. Student leaders at KCHS received training about suicide awareness. The assemblies aimed to assist our students and staff with helpful tips and facts about mental health and suicide prevention. Deb Casello, You Are Not Alone youth suicide prevention project coordinator through the Alaska Training Cooperative and UAA’s Center for Human Development, together with trained students from Anchorage facilitated the assemblies.
Students learned that many people think that openly talking about suicide raises the risk.
The fact is that asking someone directly usually lowers their anxiety, opens up lines of communication, and also lowers the risk of an impulsive act. Everyone received yellow wrist bands with a Careline that anyone can call, anytime: 877-266-HELP.
“Since almost all efforts to persuade someone to live instead of attempt suicide will be met with agreement and relief, don’t hesitate to get involved or take the lead.” –You Are Not Alone presentation
Question. Persuade. Refer. QPR is three steps everyone can learn to help prevent suicide. The objectives of youth led QPR trainings are:

  • Teach the appropriate role for youth in suicide prevention; youth are neither counselors nor interventionists
  • Learn about the myths and facts surrounding suicide
  • Empower youth with tools to safely ask the Question
  • Recognize the warning signs of suicide
  • Know how to Persuade by offering safe support and hope
  • Reinforce critical step of involving adults, Refer to help

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SAPP Grant
In April, KPBSD was awarded a three year Suicide Awareness, Prevention and Postvention (SAPP) grant from the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development. The SAPP grant will help KPBSD continue to build capacity and extend our efforts to deliver suicide awareness programs in our schools. Through the grant, the district will be able to:

  • Develop peer mentoring, and involve more youth in the gatekeeper training
  • Continue to support what we are already doing by having our own trainers in the district for Fourth R and YMHFA, and now Sources of Strength
  • Collaborate with other community organizations to develop a coordinated Suicide Tool Kit to help make proactive plans if or when a suicide tragedy takes place, or if people need help to prevent a suicide

The three year grant proposal targets high risk populations of students in grades 7-12 at Homer Flex, Marathon School, and Kenai Alternative School. And, in year two and three of the grant, additional KPBSD middle and high schools. The goal is to develop teams of peer leaders, mentored by adult advisors, to change the peer social norms about seeking help, and to encourage students to individually assess and develop strengths in their life. An essential element of the program is to recruit a diverse peer leader network from a variety of social cliques and groups.
“While prevention is our first priority, we know postvention is a critical component of a comprehensive wellness program when faced with the tragedy of suicide in a community,” said Melissa Linton, KPBSD Curriculum and Assessment Coordinator. “Postvention has the ability to ease distress, break the cycle of suicide, and be a preventative measure. While KPBSD’s overall health and wellness curriculum is in place, a high priority need for our district is to further education and supports for suicide prevention. Our goal is to create a network of community mental health providers to collaborate to develop a purposeful and coordinated community support that responds quickly and effectively to provide safe havens in response to suicide.”
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