School Workers May Have To Be Trained On Suicide Prevention

All school workers in Arizona may soon be required to have training on suicide awareness and prevention.

Senate Bill 1445, introduced by Arizona State Sen. Sean Bowie, is an extension of another bill known as the Mitch Warnock Act. The bill, which passed last fall, required only teachers and principals to have the training.

The new bill will expand the training to all school workers, and even college students who plan to work in schools after graduation.

“Last year when we were writing the bill, I honestly only thought about teachers,” Sen. Bowie said. “I didn’t think about school counselors and school social workers. It’s a natural extension.”

Being armed with the training in suicide awareness before entering a career in education is crucial to the success of students, Sen. Bowie said.

“The more counselors and social workers we hire, I think that just raises the awareness level of why mental health support is so important for students,” Sen. Bowie said.

If passed, the bill will require evidence-based instruction on suicide awareness and prevention. One of the many organizations that supplies the training is the Arizona State Suicide Prevention Coalition.

Nikki Kontz, president of the AZSPC, said their main goal is to reduce the rate of suicides in Arizona. They do so by providing the training at low costs, Kontz said.

The bill “is something that we as a coalition support,” Kontz said. “I honestly believe that this new bill has the capacity to save lives.”

Many schools are already members of the coalition according to Kontz, and many members are already helping to support schools with the training required in the Mitch Warnock Act for free.

“We are asking them to keep our kids safe, but we have to also make sure that we are giving them the tools to do that,” Kontz said. “This is making sure that they’re walking out armed with that instead of walking in blind.”

The new bill focuses on grades six through 12, however doesn’t address college students. Though college counselors are required to have the training for the job, social-workers and professors are not, according to Kontz.

“If the world was the way that I wanted it, everyone would be trained in suicide prevention,” Kontz said. “That’s not going to be a part of these bills, because the focus of these bills was very specific.”

It’s a change that Kontz hopes will happen in the future when it comes to suicide prevention.

“Professors are usually going to be the first ones to recognize a change in behavior,” Kontz said. “They’re the ones that are able to also affect the most change and support with the students.”

Community Bridges Inc. is an addiction-treatment company. Though their main focus is toward such treatments, the corporation is also an educator on suicide awareness and prevention.

Natalia Chimbo-Andrade is the director of community education and outreach with CBI. Her hope is that Community Bridges Inc. can be a source for the training.

“They haven’t clarified what the evidence-based training will be,” Andrade said. “If it is something that Community Bridges can provide in our wheelhouse, we are hoping we can be that source.”

Chimbo-Andrade said that her department provides presentations and training on many different suicide prevention skillsets throughout Arizona. Though she supports the bill, like Kontz she wishes it would expand outside of schools.

“We have seen some rising numbers when it comes to youth suicides, and I understand that,” Chimbo-Andrade said. “But suicide doesn’t discriminate on age, race or gender.”

Chimbo-Andrade believes that the key to stopping suicide doesn’t stop at awareness in schools, but awareness everywhere.

“If we inform individuals of the resources that are out there, then people are going to know,” Chimbo-Andrade finished.