Report 2019-125 Recommendation 15 Responses
Report 2019-125: Youth Suicide Prevention: Local Educational Agencies Lack the Resources and Policies Necessary to Effectively Address Rising Rates of Youth Suicide and Self‑Harm (Release Date: September 2020)
Recommendation #15 To: Heartland Charter Schools
To ensure that their teachers and staff have the knowledge necessary to identify and assist students at risk of self-harm and suicide, the six LEAs we reviewed should do the following:
- Revise their suicide prevention training materials by June 2021 to align with state law and incorporate the best practices in Education's model policy.
-LEAs that provide suicide prevention training should conduct it at the beginning of the school year.
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2022
Heartland Charter School has fully implemented suggestion 15. We have created a new Suicide Prevention Training complete with all of the necessary components. This training is required at the beginning of every school year. We have also implemented a Mental Health screener and school-wide SEL curriculum. We have all supports listed on our Heartland website heartlandcharterschool.com We also have all resources listed for our staff in their Handbook including our Intervention Website, Mental Health Screeners, Mental Health Contacts, Flowcharts for Process, and parent communication.
- Completion Date: August 2022
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Partially Implemented
Heartland Charter School's suicide prevention training now describes school-based and community-based mental health services and when and how to refer students to them, as required by state law. However, the California Department of Education recommends that trainings also discuss regional trends identified in data on self-harm incidents and suicides, which Heartland Charter did not include.
- Auditee did not address all aspects of the recommendation
1-Year Agency Response
Although we contacted Heartland to remind it to submit responses to our recommendations, it did not provide an update regarding this recommendation.
- Estimated Completion Date: unknown
- Response Date: May 2022
California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Partially Implemented
The training materials Heartland Charter provided in its 60-day response did not incorporate information on trends identified in data on self-harm incidents and suicides within its region, as recommended by Education. Further, Heartland did not provide evidence that it conducted this training at the beginning of the school year.
6-Month Agency Response
This was fully implemented by November2020. Documentation was presented to California State Auditor in November.
- Completion Date: November 2020
- Response Date: March 2021
California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Partially Implemented
Heartland Charter's training material now includes information on community-based and school-based mental health services, and when and how to refer students to them. However, it does not incorporate information on trends identified in data on self-harm incidents and suicides within its region, as recommended by Education. Further, Heartland did not provide evidence that it conducted this training at the beginning of the school year.
- Auditee did not address all aspects of the recommendation
60-Day Agency Response
We have implemented additional suicide prevention training for our staff now implementing local resources and taking into consideration our regions' data points.
*We have sought local health care professionals (via Kern County Health Department) as well as reaching out to the San Luis Obispo suicide hotline in the creation of our training.
*We have added Heartland mental health professionals including three counselors, two nurses, four school psychologists, and one Heartland social worker.
We have appointed a primary and secondary suicide prevention liaison. She is overseeing our entire process from the initial recommendation to the postvention response team.
The mental health and safety of our students is of utmost importance at Heartland Charter School.
- Completion Date: November 2020
- Response Date: November 2020
California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Partially Implemented
Heartland Charter's training material now includes information on community-based and school-based mental health services, and when and how to refer students to them. However, it does not incorporate information on trends identified in data on self-harm incidents and suicides within its region, as recommended by Education. Further, Heartland did not provide evidence that it conducted this training at the beginning of the school year.
- Auditee did not address all aspects of the recommendation
All Recommendations in 2019-125
Agency responses received are posted verbatim.