The Maine Suicide Prevention Program (MSSP) and NAMI Maine are offering a series of training opportunities for the school community over the next two months. If you have not developed or revised your suicide prevention and management protocols for your district, this may be the last chance to train a team from your school district before the deadline of June 2020. These trainings are all funded through the MSSP and offered at no or little costs.
The trainings offered during March and April include:
Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Training: Multiple Dates and Locations
This day-long training prepares school personnel for their role as a suicide prevention resource for their school community. Though a non-clinical training, it provides the basic information and resources to identify risk and engage in an intervention to connect a student to appropriate help. Each district is required to maintain a minimum number of Gatekeepers based on the size of their student body. The requirement is at least 2 Gatekeepers, and for districts with more than 1,000 students, an additional person for every 500 students. It is recommended to have a Gatekeeper in each school building.
Advanced Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper Training for School Personnel: Multiple Dates and Locations
The Suicide Prevention Gatekeepers must renew their training at least every 5 years. Those who were trained in the foundational Gatekeeper Training 5+ years ago are due for renewal. This session offers an opportunity to deepen your knowledge and skills in suicide prevention for school personnel renewing their training.
Suicide Prevention Protocol Development Training: Multiple Dates and Locations
The process of developing a school or district protocol managing suicide prevention, intervention and postvention requires several conversations with personnel across a district. This 5-hour workshop offers an opportunity for a small team from the district to get started on the process. Training includes templates, model forms and added resources to support your efforts.
Non-Suicidal Self Injury management in a school setting: March 10, 2020
Non-suicidal self-injury is the direct, deliberate destruction of body tissue in the absence of suicidal intent. It has been on the rise over the past decade There is significant connection between self-injury and suicide risk that must be understood and addressed. This training will review demographics, risk factors and warning signs of self-injury as well as recommendations for assessment, intervention and management of self-injury in a school setting.
Collaborative Safety Planning in a school setting: March 24, 2020
Best practice recommendations for addressing and managing suicide risk include use of a good assessment tool for determining risk and guiding intervention. A vital next step is the collaborative development and use of a Safety Plan to help an individual to manage themselves during and following periods of crisis. A Safety Plan is a tool and a process for working with a student and family to identify and increase the use of coping skills, social and family support and professional resources. It is an excellent tool for use with anyone at risk for escalating crisis. This session will provide the tools and process for implementing safety planning for supporting students at risk in Maine schools
Suicide Prevention Training of Trainers (to learn to present the required suicide prevention staff training):
All school staff across the district are required to attend a 1-2 hour Suicide Prevention Awareness Session. The TOT session is for school staff who are Gatekeepers and offers them the support and access to the materials to support their delivery of the staff awareness sessions for their school or district. Plan to send at least 2 staff!
The full range of training dates and registration links are available through the suicide prevention Training Calendar at NAMI Maine.