115.365 Assistance to schools for suicide prevention programs.

(1) The purpose of this section is to enable and encourage public, private, and tribal schools to develop programs designed to prevent suicide among minors.

(2) The department, in conjunction with the department of health services and the department of children and families, shall:

(a) Develop and conduct training programs in suicide prevention for the professional staff of public, private, and tribal schools and county departments under ss. 46.215, 46.22, and 51.42. The programs shall include information on how to assist minors in the positive emotional development which will help prevent suicidal tendencies; the detection, by minors, school staff, and parents, of conditions which indicate suicidal tendencies; the proper action to take when there is reason to believe that a minor has suicidal tendencies or is contemplating suicide; and the coordination of school suicide prevention programs and activities with the suicide prevention and intervention programs and activities of other state and local agencies. Persons other than the professional staff of public, private, and tribal schools and county departments under ss. 46.215, 46.22, and 51.42 may attend the training programs. The department may charge such persons a fee sufficient to cover the increased costs to the department of their participation in the programs.

(b) Provide consultation and technical assistance to public, private, and tribal schools for the development and implementation of suicide prevention programs and the coordination of those programs with the suicide prevention and intervention programs of other state and local agencies.

(3) Each school board and the governing body of each private school annually shall inform their professional staff of the resources available from the department and other sources regarding suicide prevention. The department annually shall provide school boards and the governing bodies of private and tribal schools with a model notice, describing the suicide prevention services that it has developed and how staff may access those services, that school boards and governing bodies of private and tribal schools may use to inform their professional staff.

History: 1985 a. 29, 176; 1987 a. 403; 1995 a. 27 s. 9126 (19); 2007 a. 20 ss. 2690, 9121 (6) (a); 2007 a. 220; 2009 a. 302.