Assessing and Addressing School Needs in Suicide Prevention

September marks both the return to school for many districts across the United States as well as the internationally recognized Suicide Prevention Month. This September, data are showing a stark need to more effectively address suicide in our K–12 students. The most recent report from the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey showed that 20% of high school students reported seriously considering suicide in 2023. Likewise, data from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control showed that the youth suicide rate for those 6–19 years old increased 25% from 2012 to 2022.

While these statistics present concerning trends in youth mental health, they can also spur greater awareness, action, and efforts to prevent suicide in our students. In fact, research has shown that when we invest in comprehensive approaches to suicide prevention, we see reductions in youth suicide rates.

However, schools often need support in understanding the unique role they can play in preventing student suicide and how they can integrate suicide prevention activities within existing systems (e.g., classroom practices across buildings, guiding  policies and protocols, and student support services). This means effective suicide prevention can be integrated into all facets of school services and resources.

To that end, EDC developed the Multi-Tiered Suicide Prevention for Schools (MTSP) framework to support school districts. MTSP guides districts in implementing comprehensive approaches to suicide prevention that are systemwide, sustainable, and, most importantly, effective.

The MTSP framework provides six evidence-based components of school-based suicide prevention:

• Engaging key school community members
• Developing community partnerships
• Developing policies and protocols for helping students who are at risk for suicide
• Developing policies and protocols for after a death by suicide
• Identifying and supporting students who are at increased risk for suicide
• Promoting protective factors

These components support schools in creating environments that reduce all students’ risk for suicide while also preparing schools to more effectively identify and support students who are already at risk. You can read more about EDC’s six key components in our blog post. Ultimately, these six components provide tangible outcomes that enable schools to achieve a systemwide approach to suicide prevention.

A crucial driver in EDC’s suicide prevention work with districts is our MTSP Environmental Assessment and accompanying Companion Guide. Any U.S. school district can freely access and use these open-sourced resources to assess their current student well-being and suicide prevention efforts—as well as the integration of these efforts into a tiered system of support.

This assessment has proven to be a useful tool for districts seeking to:

• Better understand their most pressing youth mental health needs
• Make data-informed decisions on immediate and long-term steps to invest in suicide prevention
• Ensure their efforts are in line with best practices in the field

Assessment questions cover an array of topics central to systemwide suicide prevention, including:

• The existence of suicide prevention protocols and the professional development surrounding such protocols
• The use of evidence-based supports for students identified as at risk for suicide
• Classroom practices that create environments that reduce all students’ risk for suicide

Pre- and post-environmental assessment data from districts focused on implementing the MTSP framework have shown promising progress in creating the system changes necessary for effective suicide prevention. For example, 75% of MTSP’s pilot schools reported good or excellent capacity to prevent student suicide following two years of action planning and implementation focused on MTSP. Pilot districts also reported good or excellent capacity to fill gaps in school suicide prevention To learn more about our pilot pre-post assessment data, visit MTSP Environmental Assessment.

When reflecting on their experiences in MTSP, one district mental health professional shared, “We feel that the impact of COVID on the mental health of our students would have been much worse if we had not had… this programming in place. There is no doubt in the minds of our [MTSP] team that these efforts have saved lives.”

School districts across four states are currently implementing the MTSP framework with the goal of creating sustainable, comprehensive approaches to suicide prevention. One of the district reported the following:

[Our district] completed the Environmental Assessment three times in three years (Pre-, Post- and voluntary Follow-Up). We chose to take the assessment a third time to get an accurate picture of our ongoing sustainability, to re-assess current priorities, discuss the impact of funding changes and support personnel, and to assure that we were evolving with the current needs of our stakeholders. In reflection, the assessment proved to be an effective tool, when administered repeatedly, to assess priorities and strategies in an ever-changing landscape of need, accessibility, funding, and resources. Our district team utilized the assessment data to revise our strategic plan, enhancing the sustainability of the multi-tiered suicide prevention framework we are developing.

EDC encourages all U.S. districts to use Suicide Prevention Month—and indeed every month beyond—to promote student mental health and suicide prevention in your schools!

To learn more, visit MTSP Environmental Assessment or email solutions@edc.org.

Shawna Hite-Jones is a senior manager of prevention initiatives with EDC and the co-lead of EDC’s Multi-Tiered Suicide Prevention for Schools service.

Dr. Richard Fournier is a senior project director with EDC and its Multi-Tiered Suicide Prevention for Schools service.