(Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part series sharing the findings of a June 2021 study on suicide in rural Pennsylvania).

A study, published in June by Daniel J. Mallinson, Ph.D., Eunsil Yoo, and Brandon Cruz of Penn State Harrisburg and titled “Suicide Trends and Prevention in Rural Pennsylvania Counties and Schools,” gathered information on suicide trends in rural counties and schools from 1999 to 2018. The study found that suicide rates are rising, with special concern related to the number of suicides in rural counties.

With the knowledge that suicide is a concern in rural counties, efforts to include suicide awareness and prevention efforts in regular school curriculum are ongoing and widely varied.

The study authors reached out to 477 school district superintendents, principals and administrators and received a response from 134 (a 28% response rate). Of those responding, 48% were rural and 52% were urban.

A map of responding school districts showed that several school districts within The Era’s coverage area responded to the surveys, including Bradford, Kane, Smethport, Johnsonburg, Port Allegany and Coudersport.

The study explained that schools throughout the state had varied approaches to providing services, with four primary types: student awareness, faculty trainings, counselor/resource matching and student-led programming.

Among the reported programs in the study were: student awareness (97 reported, 47 rural and 50 urban); faculty training (31 reported, 11 rural and 20 urban); counselor/resource matching (34 reported, 14 rural and 20 urban) and student-led (17 reported, 4 rural and 13 urban). Of those reported, 57% contained an element of generating awareness.

The Pennsylvania Department of Education has implemented such measures as The Pennsylvania Student Assistance Program (SAP), which is defined as “a systematic team process used to mobilize school resources to remove barriers to learning. SAP is designed to assist in identifying issues including alcohol, tobacco, other drugs, and mental health issues which pose a barrier to a student’s success.”

According to the state department of education, the primary goal of the Student Assistance Program is to help students overcome these barriers so that they may achieve, advance, and remain in school.

The study stated, “Within a district, SAP is meant to serve as a bridge and collaboration between a school and community behavioral health resources. Schools are not identical, however, in how they implement their SAPs, though every school district is required to have one.”

The Oswayo Valley School District has an active SAP Team that meets twice a month to help identify students that are struggling and refer to services if needed.

For Bradford Area School District, Superintendent Katy Pude explained, “We have the Student Assistance Program and Student Assistance Team (SAP team) at both of our Secondary schools.”

For Otto-Eldred School District, Superintendent Matt Splain stated, “The Student Assistance Program is available to all students K-12 through partnership with The Guidance Center. Referrals can be made by staff, parents or students.”

Below are details on programs utilized in Oswayo Valley, Bradford and Otto-Eldred. Efforts to attain information on programs at Smethport, Kane and Port Allegany schools were not successful.

Oswayo Valley School District

OVSD School Counselor Monica Williams shared details of the district’s variety of programs in place for suicide prevention.

In terms of student-led programming, Williams explained the district has a Yellow Ribbon Club with approximately 20 active students focused on raising awareness within the school and in the community. The President also sponsors an annual suicide prevention walk in honor of a friend.

Williams is on the Potter County Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Task Force. The Potter County Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention Program plans events to raise awareness and also brings in speakers on a regular basis to address the students. For example, Williams noted that Rich Allen was a guest speaker who addressed teachers and students virtually this year, and a Glow Run for suicide awareness is set for Aug. 14 in Roulette.

Williams has completed all available trauma awareness courses through Lakeside Global, an institute offering comprehensive trauma-informed training. Also, the district has mental health specialists trained to respond to the students’ mental health needs and an Intensive Case Manager who can work with families to help them access services available in Potter County.

Bradford Area School District

Pude noted that lesson units on mental health are part of the curriculum in 12 grade health classes, as well as for Success 101 for ninth graders.

“The lessons include recognizing signs and symptoms, seeking help, seeking help for friends/family, ways to eliminate the stigma of mental illness,” Pude explained. “We tie this unit to drug and alcohol education/substance abuse prevention lessons, since the two issues are often interrelated. We also tie this unit to the unit on interpersonal relationships/bullying prevention. This unit also covers online safety and online bullying.”

In terms of staff training, all staff receive QPR (Question, Persuade and Refer) training, which gives them the ability to identify and refer students to the school social worker, counselors, or administrators for further assessment. The Bradford Area High School Dean of Students meets with guidance counselors and teachers on a monthly basis to discuss student well-being and any concerns, while Floyd C. Fretz Middle School teachers meet weekly for a discussion on the behavioral and mental health concerns for students.

“The collaboration between the Bradford Area School District and collateral contacts is extremely important. The collaterals that are regularly utilized are: Children’s Mental Health coordinator through DHS, Beacon Light Directors of Community- Based services, as well as the Guidance Center. These collaterals have been expanded this school year to include Deerfield Behavioral Health Services,” Pude stated.

Pude said that students are helpful in this effort, sharing concerns about others who may be in crisis as a result of Safe to Say training completed by both students and staff. With this information, teachers and administrative staff can check in to ensure student safety.

Otto-Eldred School District

Otto-Eldred has recently added a social worker to the district’s staff, who meets with students in need and with their families to help overcome issues that impact success at school, according to Splain. School Counselors are also available in both buildings to meet with students, provide in-class instruction on suicide awareness topics and help students access services needed.

Otto-Eldred staff regularly complete suicide awareness training, as required by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The district’s professionals development program also includes trauma-informed care trainings, and the district utilizes the Safe 2 Say system for reports from individuals themselves or from friends, family or staff members.

The district also offers Community and School-based Behavioral Health Services, a newer program available to elementary students through a partnership with Beacon Light Behavioral Health, which allows students and families to access services directly at school.