State lawmakers mull suicide prevention training requirements in Missouri schools
By Joe McLean
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JEFFERSON CITY, Missouri (KMOV) — Missouri legislators are debating a requirement that suicide awareness and prevention training be mandated in schools and that students as young as 5th grade should begin age-appropriate material on the subject.
Under the bill, the material would be added to the required mental health awareness training, which is currently only offered to high school students.
The material would follow the Columbia Protocol for suicide risk assessment and include “additional age-appropriate instruction relating to suicide awareness, tools for identifying potential suicide signs, and strategies and protocols for helping students at risk,” according to the bill’s summary.
The legislation also aims to make suicide prevention resources more available to the public through an online clearinghouse.
Under the proposal, the Department of Mental Health’s Children’s Division would build out and maintain a public, virtual directory of online resources, which also includes an avenue for online suicide risk screening, mental health assessments and anything else the department thinks will help curb suicide rates in Missouri.
The House Committee on Health and Mental Health Policy debated the bill on Monday.
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