The customized edition of the Guide for Orange County, NY was a collaborative effort whose purpose was to revise the USF Youth Suicide Prevention School-Based Guide. The effort updated a previous review and synthesis of the literature and research for school-based and youth suicide prevention. New York’s Orange County Department of Mental Health and Orange-Ulster BOCES contacted researchers at the University of South Florida who originally authored the Youth Suicide Prevention School-Based Guide to create a tailored edition for their community. Additional New York collaborators for this ten-month project included the Mental Health Association of Orange County, Family Empowerment Council, Inc. of Orange County, NYS Office of Mental Health, International Critical Incident Stress Foundation, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and mental health staff from several school districts.
The Orange County, NY customization incorporated local resources, information, and other requested updates and expanded information to the 2003 Guide including: crisis team policy; additional information about the LGBTQI population; impact of bullying and best practices in managing bullying in schools; rates of suicide in the Latina population; updated information on cultural and linguistic competence; evidenced-based practices from the Suicide Prevention Best Practices Registry; information on being trauma-informed; information on death and dying; and information on managing other school-based critical incidents.
The Orange County, NY customization is modeled after the Guide’s original layout and basic design where the literature is summarized into corresponding issue briefs and checklists. The USF team reviewed relevant literature focusing primarily on research published since 2003. The original Youth Suicide Prevention School-based Guide focused on literature from 1990 to the Guide’s 2003 publication date.
The Youth Suicide Prevention School-Based Guide: Orange County, NY has practical practice implications as it is designed to provide accurate, user-friendly information for their schools and community. First, checklists can be completed to help evaluate the adequacy of a school’s suicide prevention programs. Second, information is offered in a series of issue briefs corresponding to a related checklist. Each issue brief offers a rationale for the importance of the specific topic together with a brief overview of the key points gleaned from a review of the research/literature. The issue briefs also include references that schools may then explore in greater detail. A resource section with helpful local and national links is also included. The Guide can provide information to schools to assist them in the development of a framework to work in partnership with community resources and families.
Download the full NY Guide Here (10MB), or download the individual sections below
Now included in the Best Practices Registry (BPR) for suicide prevention, a collaboration between the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC) and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP).
| Checklist 1 | Information Dissemination in Schools | 138 kb |
| True/False 1t | Information Dissemination in Schools: The Facts about Adolescent Suicide | 155 kb |
| Checklist 2 | School Climate | 138 kb |
| Checklist 4 | Administrative Issues | 123 kb |
| Checklist 5 | Suicide Prevention Guidelines | 138 kb |
| Checklist 6 | Intervention Strategies | 138 kb |
| Checklist 7a | Preparing for and Responding to a Death by Suicide: Steps for Responding | 140 kb |
| Checklist 7b | Preparing for and Responding to a Death by Suicide: Responding to and Working with the Media—Sample Forms for Schools | 153 kb |
| Checklist 9 | Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Populations | 208 kb |
| Programs | School-Based Suicide Prevention Programs | 215 kb |
| Resources | Resources and Links | 560 kb |
| Statistics | Suicide-Related Statistices | 952 kb |
