By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post

A new program at Hays Middle School seeks to prevent suicide and self-harm among its students.

Already this year, HMS has reported multiple students with either suicide attempts or serious self-harm incidents, Julie Zollinger, school psychologist, said.

The school is rolling out a pilot of the Signs of Suicide prevention program this month. Zollinger gave a presentation on the pilot to USD 489 school board members at their meeting Monday.

SOS is the only program that research has shown increases students knowledge about suicide risk and depression, and decreased suicide attempts.

A report in 2016 indicated SOS reduced self-reported suicide attempts by 64 percent.

Over the last 10 years, the program has been implemented in more than 1,000 schools.

The strongest indicators for suicide are depression, substance abuse and previous attempts of suicide, Zollinger said. For youth ages 11 to 19, suicide is the second-leading cause of death. In Kansas, suicide is the third-leading cause of death for middle school youth.

Depression has been linked to poor school performance, substance abuse, running away, feelings of hopelessness and worthlessness in addition to suicide.

“The SOS program was created to address the issues of youth depression and suicide simultaneously and age appropriately,” Zollinger said.

She added more than 90 percent of youth who die by suicide have a diagnosable mental health issue, most often depression. Yet 80 percent of youth with a mental disorder are never identified.

The SOS program has the following goals:

• Highlight the relationship between mental health and suicide

• Teach that suicide is, most often, a fatal response to a treatable disorder – depression

• Encourage individuals to seek help from adults

• Encourages students to seek help when they are concerned about themselves or a friend

In addition, the program seeks to reduce stigma, encourage students to seek help for themselves and others, engage parents and teacher to promote education and prevention, increase access to mental health services and strengthen community partnerships.

The students will learn to ACT.

Acknowledge: that you are seeing signs of depression or suicide in yourself or a friend and that it is serious.

Care: Let your friend know how much you care about them and that you are concerned that they need help.

Tell: a trusted adult that you are worried about yourself or a friend.

HMS has already started to roll out the program to a pilot of 25 students. The staff has seen training videos, consent letters have gone out to parents and parent training is set to start later this week.

Parents can watch a video on SOS, receive a newsletter and receive access to an SOS online portal.

Students will also watch a video and receive a newsletter. To complete the session, they must fill out a depression screening and hand in a response card indicating if they are concerned about themselves or a friend. The students also get wallet cards and ACT sticker for their lockers.

SOS research has indicated 12 percent to 15 percent of students report they need a follow-up after they complete the SOS training. That rate is higher if there has been a recent trauma in the community.

Counselors and the school psychologist will be on hand to help students who self-refer or refer a friend. Parents will be contacted, and the students referred to community mental health services if necessary.

Materials for the program were paid for through a gift from the USD 489 Foundation for Educational Excellence. The startup pack for the middle school cost about $500, but Zollinger said further materials would be less expensive and some resources like the newsletters could be produced in-house.

Zollinger said she hopes the SOS program could be rolled out to the entire middle school. The school is only limited, at this point, by the number of mental health providers available following the implementation, she said.

Board member Luke Oborny said the numbers and the evidence on suicide were staggeringly scary.

“It is not a matter if there is a need,” he said. “I am glad you are helping to try to fill that void.”