§290bb–33 Student Suicide Awareness and Prevention Training

Summary

When giving out funds, the Secretary must favor state, local, or Tribal education agencies that already have, or plan to start, a school-based student suicide awareness and prevention training policy for secondary schools. The policy must be based on proven methods, fit the culture and language of the students, and include training for students in grades 6–12 that works with school mental health services. The training must teach about suicide risk and prevention, how students can ask for help, and where to find resources, and students must get refresher training over time. Agencies should consult principals, teachers, parents, Tribal leaders, and experts, and may use materials from the Suicide Prevention Technical Assistance Center. Agencies that get priority must report aggregated, privacy-protected data to the Secretary: how many trainings happened and how they were delivered, how many students were trained by age and grade, and how many help-seeking reports followed the training. The Secretary will consider local suicide rates and costs when choosing who gets priority, will publish the policies and offer technical help with the Departments of Education and the Interior, and must report by September 30, 2024 the number of grantees that put these policies in place and a summary of the reported data. Definitions: evidence-based — meaning given in section 7801 of title 20; local educational agency — meaning given in section 7801 of title 20; State educational agency — meaning given in section 7801 of title 20; Tribal educational agency — meaning the term in section 7452 of title 20.