The links below contained detailed information for the upcoming 2017 Safe States Alliance Annual Meeting, taking place September 12-14, 2017 in Aurora, Colorado.
Please note:
- A total of five concurrent sessions will take place during the Annual Meeting, and there will be up to five breakouts occurring simultaneously during each of those concurrent sessions. Within each breakout, there will be up to four presentations that take place.
- This online system does not allow us to embed the individual presentations within each breakout. Please note the session presentations listed under each Concurrent Breakout title for associated content.
- The on-site mobile app WILL embed these sessions for ease of use.
- A printable, detailed agenda can be found on the 2017 Annual Meeting website.
- If you have any questions, please contact info@safestates.org
- All session times and locations are tentative and subject to change. Safe States will continue to update these details as changes take place.
Youth Suicide Prevention in Pennsylvania Schools and Colleges
Learning Objectives
1. The participant will be able to describe how a statewide infrastructure has facilitated the implementation of suicide prevention activities across education and behavioral health systems.
2. The participant will be able to identify existing resources for youth suicide prevention in schools and youth-serving agencies.
3. The participant will be able to discuss how collaborative efforts between state, county, and local agencies and organizations can promote the sustainability of youth suicide prevention training and screening efforts.
Statement of Purpose
The “Suicide Prevention in Pennsylvania Schools and Colleges Initiative” aims to implement suicide prevention and early intervention strategies for youth ages 10-24 across the Commonwealth. The project is funded by a SAMSHA Garrett Lee Smith grant and offers gatekeeper training, suicide risk management training, standardized screening, and training in empirically supported treatments with goals of raising awareness, increasing identification of at risk youth, facilitating referrals to treatment, and improving treatment outcomes.
Methods/Approach
In Pennsylvania schools, when youth are identified in schools as having any “barrier to learning” including behavioral health concerns, they are referred to the Student Assistance Program (SAP) to determine whether they may need a screening and/or assessment. The Student Assistance Program (SAP) is unique to Pennsylvania. Building on the Student Assistance Program in Pennsylvania schools, this project provides training options and a standardized, validated screening tool to appropriate school personnel and the behavioral health systems that serve these schools.
Results
In the first two years of the project, staff provided gatekeeper training to over 4500 educators, with over 1000 of those receiving their training through online modules developed in collaboration with intermediate units. More than 2500 youth have been screened since the start of the project. In targeted screening, approximately 20-30% of youth self-reported either current or history of suicide ideation. Through universal screening, which is presently being piloted within two school districts, approximately 15% of youth self-reported current or history of ideation.
Conclusions & Significance to the Field
The project has embedded suicide prevention activities along a continuum of existing supports and linkages between the mental health and educational systems in Pennsylvania. The training model for the project will be described, with additional time allocated to review specific resources developed through this grant that are available to the general public online.
Presenters
Perri Rosen, PhD
Biography
Perri Rosen, Ph.D., is Project Director of the Garrett Lee Smith Youth Suicide Prevention grant, a SAMHSA-funded grant awarded to the Pennsylvania Office of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (OMHSAS) at the Department of Human Services (DHS) in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. This grant is focused on suicide prevention awareness, training, screening, and intervention for youth ages 10-24 throughout the Commonwealth. Dr. Rosen is also Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP) and a Pennsylvania certified Special Education teacher. Additionally, she sits on the Executive Board of the Pennsylvania Youth Suicide Prevention Initiative (PAYSPI) and the Association of School Psychologists of Pennsylvania (ASPP), and she is a certified trainer in Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) and Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA).