Foster Youth Suicide Prevention

Level: Core/Advanced Practice – (Lineworker, Supervisor, Manager)

Credits: 6

Intended Audience: This course is intended for lineworkers working with foster youth as well as foster parents

Description of Course: This training, Foster Youth Suicide Prevention, identifies the causes of foster youth depression. It focuses on the loss and grief of young people in the foster care system and shows how this leads to depression and anxiety. Then the training focuses on the specifics of suicidality, and how to talk to a young person you think may be suicidal to help them get care. The training uses lecture, values clarification exercise and role play to transfer learning.

Intended Objectives: At the end of this training participants will be able to:

• Identify the life experiences that lead foster youth to higher rates of suicidality
• Identify the mental illnesses foster youth suffer from that make them more at risk
• Identify the five most important questions in a suicide assessment
• Recognize the need for creating self-care strategies

Topics Include:

• Grief and loss as they pertain to foster youth
• Depression, anxiety, alcohol abuse and 2 other diagnoses most associated with suicidality
• (Myth-busting) FACTS about suicide and suicide intervention
• Suicide assessment skills
• How to use suicide assessment skills
• Referral