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Helping Students Through Hard Times: Suicide Prevention Resources for Schools and Caring Adults

  • NYS TINRC
Bus driver waving at kids entering the bus

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. It’s a time to remember that help is always available, and that talking about our mental health can save lives. The topic of suicide risk in children can be difficult to think about and caring adults can feel nervous about how best to help. We have put together a list of trusted resources you can use and share with students, families, and school communities.

There are many resources available to you to promote mental health and suicide prevention, including:

  • NYS Office of Mental Health’s Suicide Prevention Center (SPCNY) provides schools across New York State with access to a wide range of resources, tools, and evidence-based trainings. These offerings include professional development for school personnel, guidance on implementing suicide prevention strategies, and materials to support student wellness and resilience.
  • TIG is a program that has worked with districts, schools, and educators across New York State to address trauma, illness and grief in a way that leads to real and positive change. They offer a simple way to frame actions that can be taken to best help: Prevention, Intervention, and Recovery.  

Prevention

Suicide risk usually stems from multiple factors, including feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, as well as school-related challenges like bullying, academic pressure, family difficulties, and social isolation. Recognizing these factors makes it easier for schools and trusted adults to take steps that lower risk and strengthen student well-being.

Build resilience

Give students the chance to learn about the impact of stress and healthy actions they can take.  Provide them with skills and support they need to build their resilience and manage stress in their lives.

Here are two great guides to think about resilience development:

Build relationships

Be a caring and trusted adult. Let them know that you care about them No Matter What. Listen to them, teach them skills to resolve their problems, and how to reach out for help, when needed. Celebrate the good times and remain supportive when times are hard.  

  • At school, think about ways you can make sure that ALL students feel they belong and have at least one caring, connected relationship with an adult. When times are hard, students will reach out to their trusted adult. They are also likely to connect with that adult and share if they are worried about a friend.
  • If your school or organization is looking for support and programming on  building school connectedness, please reach out to OMH SPCNY at spcny.training@omh.ny.gov

Build hope

Reduce stigma and promote messages of hope. Learn about the Framework for Successful Messaging developed by the Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention to guide school activities and programs.  Share stories and strategies that highlight resilience, encourage help-seeking, and remind students that support is available and recovery is possible.

Build knowledge

Learn about risk and protective factors.  Be aware of warning signs.  Suicide prevention is everyone’s job!  Make sure that all staff and community members have access to good information, training, and skills.  Here are some resources that offer training or information to schools:

Intervention

The best way to know when to intervene is to know your students. Understanding when a child or adolescent is not acting like themselves and offering care is the first step. Work together, share information and school support resources across classes. This is important in creating your school’s safety net. 

Helping Students at Risk for Suicide is an OMH SPCNY training provided virtually, and free of charge. This workshop is designed to improve skills, processes, and protocol for helping students at risk for suicide. To register for an upcoming workshop, please click here.

Tips for School and Families

  • Encourage open communication: Provide staff and students the learning and practice needed to ask directly: “Are you thinking about ending your life?” or “Are you thinking about suicide?” This can save lives.
  • Connect them with appropriate help: Understand your school and community resources. Help staff know how to connect students with resources at school. Build relationships with parents and caregivers. Encourage them to engage with community resources outside of school. Consider resources that support community and connection. This can be helpful when people feel hopeless.
  • Identify risk: Be attentive and supportive, listening closely and show genuine care. Ask direct but compassionate questions about suicide or overwhelming problems the student may be facing. If concerns arise, don’t handle them alone: seek additional help by connecting the student to a trusted adult, counselor, or the school’s support office. 
    • OMH SPCNY offers a variety of school-based suicide prevention trainings for all staff: 
      • Creating Suicide Safety in School: This full day workshop provides exposure to best practices in suicide prevention and assists schools with developing building-and-district-wide policies, procedures, and implementation plans for suicide prevention. Participants receive valuable templates and resources for implementation of their customized action plan.
      • Suicide Safety for Teachers and School Staff: This 60- to 90-minute training equips ALL school faculty and staff with essential skills to recognize warning signs, understand the school’s referral process, and make effective warm handoffs to appropriate care. 
      • Helping Students at Risk for Suicide: This workshop is designed to improve skills, processes, and protocols for helping students at risk for suicide. 
      • To learn more and to find out about upcoming training opportunities, please visit https://www.preventsuicideny.org/training-options/ 
    • Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) and Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) are trainings appropriate for any school staff or caring adult. 
      • School mental health staff can learn and build more confidence by working as a team and using standardized measures to help assess risk. New York’s Project Teach provides a library of high-quality assessment resources.
  • Establishing Clear Policies and Procedures: Schools play a critical role in identifying and supporting students at risk of suicide or struggling with mental health challenges. Clear policies and procedures help staff recognize warning signs, follow defined referral pathways, and ensure consistency across the school. Effective protocols should include screening practices, youth-specific safety planning, and access to culturally relevant crisis supports. By putting these structures in place, schools can intervene earlier, connect students to the right level of care, and create a safer, more supportive learning environment. OMH SPCNY offers training and support for developing policies and procedures for schools.

Recovery

Hope is real. Help is here. For many, a period of suicide ideation is relatively time-limited.  Providing the interruption of a plan or intent at key points and working on resolving underlying issues can promote long-term recovery. Balance risk factors for an individual with protective factors like relationships. Promote mental health treatment where appropriate. Connect and normalize getting help and support when future challenges happen.

Tips for Schools & Families

  • Provide HOPE: Through caring conversations and trusted relationships, adults can help build the vision of hope that a student might struggle to see. Avoid minimizing their concerns and try working in small steps. This approach may feel less isolating and more attainable for someone struggling. 
  • Mental Wellness is a lifelong journey: Show how someone’s strength and choices helped them get through a tough time. Remind students that life has ups and downs, and challenges will come again—but they now have tools to handle them, like:
    • Asking for help early
    • Turning to friends, family, and trusted adults 
    • Use healthy coping strategies
    • Stay connected with treatment or clinical support
    • Using hotline and text line supports that are free and always available, such as 988

Upstream Prevention in Schools

Upstream prevention focuses on strengthening protective factors before a crisis occurs, helping students build the skills, connections, and support systems that reduce vulnerability to suicide and other negative outcomes. By embedding evidence-based programs into the school environment, educators can foster resilience, encourage help-seeking, and create a culture of care. Examples include:

  • Sources of Strength – A peer-led program that empowers students to leverage their personal and community strengths, fostering connectedness, reducing stigma, and promoting help-seeking behaviors.
  • Hope Squad – A peer-nominated initiative that equips students to recognize warning signs, support their classmates, and connect peers to trusted adults, building a culture of safety and openness.
  • DBT STEPS-A and other SEL Curricula – Classroom-based programs that teach coping skills, emotion regulation, problem-solving, and distress tolerance, improving student well-being while reducing emotional distress and risk behaviors.

To learn more about these programs, reach out to spcny.training@omh.ny.gov 

Hotline & Support Service Resources

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (U.S. & NYS)

  • Dial or text 988 anytime, day or night.
  • Offers free, confidential support for thoughts of suicide, crisis, or emotional distress.
  • Available for anyone, including worried parents or educators.
  • NYS 988 toolkit here: https://omh.ny.gov/omhweb/crisis/988-toolkit.pdf

NYS Crisis Hotline Numbers

National Support Services

  • SAMHSA National Helpline: 1‑800‑662‑HELP (4357) specifically for treatment referral for mental health and substance use
  • NAMI HelpLine: 1‑800‑950‑NAMI (6264) – for general mental health support
  • Teen Line: 1-800-852-8336; Text TEEN to 839863 – connects teens, who may be struggling, with professionally trained peer counselors. The website also offers links to several other valuable resources, specific for educators, caretakers, teens, etc. 
  • Trevor Project for LGBTQ+ Youth 

Talking about suicide might feel hard and scary, but it’s one of the most important conversations educators and families can have with students. When we share these helplines and resources, we let students know they are heard and not alone.

You matter. They matter. This Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, let’s make sure students know help is just a call or text away.

The NYS TINRC Newsletter is produced by CCSI. The views, opinions, and content expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views, opinions, or policies of the New York State Office of Mental Health (NYS OMH).

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