Suicide in Schools

Terri A. Erbacher, PhD, is a school psychologist for the Delaware County Intermediate Unit and a clinical assistant professor at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. She has served on the executive boards of Philadelphia's chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Survivors of Suicide, and Pennsylvania's Youth Suicide Prevention Initiative. She was named Pennsylvania’s school psychologist of the year in 2011 in recognition of her clinical practice and expertise in crisis response, suicide risk assessment and prevention, and traumatic loss. Jonathan B. Singer, PhD, LCSW, is an assistant professor at Temple University’s School of Social Work, where his clinical and research interests focus on family-based interventions for suicidal and cyberbullied youth and the role of technology in prevention and intervention. He served as an advisor for the City of Philadelphia's Youth Suicide Prevention Task Force, Non-homicide Child Death Review, and Pennsylvania Youth Suicide Prevention Initiative. He is the founder and host of the award-winning Social Work Podcast. Scott Poland, EdD, is a professor and co-director of the Suicide and Violence Prevention Office at Nova Southeastern University in Florida. As a pioneer in school suicide prevention, he published his first book on the subject in 1989 and authored or coauthored every chapter on suicide for the National Association of School Psychologists’s Best Practices in School Psychology volumes. He previously served as the prevention division director of the American Association of Suicidology and has testified about the mental-health needs of children before the US Congress.

Foreword Mennuti and Christner 1. Overview and Introduction 2. Training Gatekeepers 3. School Crisis Response Planning 4. School Liability and Implications for Best Practice 5. Evidence-Based Suicide Prevention Programs 6. Guidelines for Suicide Risk Assessment 7. Intervening with a Potentially Suicidal Student 8. The Aftermath: Immediate Suicide Postvention Step by Step 9. The Bereaved Student, School, and Community 10. Caring for the Caregiver: Burnout, Compassion Fatigue, and Vicarious Traumatization 11. Comprehensive Case Study 12. Suicide and Schools: Resources