Appomattox County Public Schools
Suicide Threat Intervention Procedures
I.
Reporting Concerns
a. Teachers and school administrators are required by Virginia State
Law to report students believed to be at risk of suicide (Code of
Virginia—Section 22.I-272.I)
i. Teachers will refer the student to the school guidance
counselor.
ii. The school guidance counselor will consult the school principal
and/or assistant principal.
iii. The school guidance counselor will contact the school
psychologist for consultation.
iv. If the school guidance counselor is unavailable, then principal
should directly contact the school psychologist.
v. If both the school counselor and psychologist are unavailable,
then the principal should refer the student to (in the following
order):
1. Visiting Teacher
2. Central Office Administrator.
b. Until the student is under the supervision of the guidance counselor,
or other adult named above, he or she should be supervised by an
adult at all times. The student should not be sent alone to the school
office.
c. The staff member to whom the threat is reported should begin
completion of the Documentation of Suicidal Intent form.
II.
Assessment of the Threat
a. The school guidance counselor or psychologist should administer and
score the SIQ (Suicide Ideation Questionnaire) or SIQ-JR to the
student who threatened.
i. The SIQ should be used with students in grades 10, 11, and 12.
ii. The SIQ-JR should be used with students in grades 7, 8, and 9.
b. The counselor or psychologist should obtain a total SIQ score and
determine if it is above the cutoff (41 for SIQ and 31 for SIQ-JR).
i. Each item is scored from 0 to 6 based on the severity of the
response
ii. Responses to each item are totaled and compared to the
respective cutoff score
c. If the student is too young for the SIQ-JR (6th grade or lower) the
counselor and/or psychologist should assess the severity of the
threat using the following questions.
i. Does the student understand the permanence of suicide?
ii. Does the student have a plan by which to commit suicide?
iii. Does the student have access to the means by which he or she
plans to commit suicide?
III.
Contacting Parents/Outside Agencies
a. If the student scores above the cutoff on the SIQ or SIQ-JR or if the
student is too young for the SIQ-JR but the guidance counselor or
school psychologist believes the student poses a high threat risk:
i. Contact one of the student’s parents
ii. If a parent cannot be contacted, call emergency contacts and
attempt to locate the parent. Do not share confidential
information with the emergency contacts; only attempt to find
the parent.
iii. The local (Appomattox) or state Social Services Intake Worker
and/or Child Protective Services office should be contacted in
lieu of the parents if:
1. Contact with the parent/guardian cannot be made
2. Parental abuse or neglect is believed to be the reason
the student is contemplating suicide
3. If in the course of contacting the parents the school
learns that the parent has no intent to act in the well
being of the child, then the school is obligated to contact
social services.
4. If the social services office is contacted, then the parents
should later be informed of the social services contact
by phone call and letter.
5. If the intake worker is out of the office (after hours),
then the Social Services Statewide Hotline should be
called (1-800-552-7096) and/or the Appomattox
Sherriff’s Office (911).
iv. Before the student leaves school grounds, the school and
parents/social services should reach an agreement on
immediate treatment for the student.
b. If the student scores below the cutoff on the SIQ or SIQ-JR or if a
younger student’s guidance counselor/school psychologist believes
the student’s threat risk is low:
i. Notify the parent/guardian or social services (if no
parent/guardian can be contacted).
ii. Recommend appropriate outside counseling/services.
iii. Provide a list of agencies providing such services.
c. The student, whether deemed high or low risk, should be supervised
by an adult until he or she is in the custody of a parent or social
services.
d. If the student is a client of an outside counseling agency and the
school is in possession of a release of information, then the guidance
counselor should contact the outside counseling agency for
consultation.
IV.
Procedures post-contact
a. The call to the parent/social services should be confidentially but
thoroughly documented (Documentation of Suicidal Intent form) in
the school records. The following should be documented:
i. Date/time of call
ii. The individual contacted
iii. The agreed upon plan for the student (treatment)
b. Prior to the student’s return to school, a meeting should be
scheduled with the parents or the student (if over the age of 18), a
school administrator, the school guidance counselor and/or
psychologist. The meeting should be held regardless of the parents’
willingness to be involved. During the meeting the following should
be discussed:
i. The mental/emotional status of the child
ii. Any needed interventions
iii. A plan by which the school guidance counselor should monitor
the student’s progress for the remainder of the school year