Foster Care Training

During this training, participants will review their roles in assessing and intervening to prevent suicide as defined by professional organizational ethics and legal statutes.  They will also view current Centers for Disease Control (CDC) statistics identifying demographic trends of suicide completion and exploring the most lethal methods of suicide attempts.  Participants will learn to identify risk and protective factors for suicide as defined by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).  They will also be introduced to Thomas Joiner’s Interpersonal Theory of Suicide to better understand drivers for suicide.  Participants will be introduced to the Ask Suicide-Screening Questions (ASQ) screening and brief suicide assessment tools as a best practice for opening new clients and for assessing suicide risk when there is a positive screening and when there is suspicion of suicidality with current clients.  Participants will use Edwin Shneidman’s Ten Commonalities of Suicide as a basis for having conversations with suicidal individuals.  Participants will also discuss evidence-based practices for managing suicidality including Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents (DBT-A), and Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality (CAMS).  Participants will be provided handouts, a PowerPoint, experiential exercises as well as an aftercare test to reinforce learning.