Informed and Intentional Postvention is Prevention

The grief associated with a death by suicide can be quite overwhelming. When a school community experiences a loss by suicide the effects can be felt on various levels. Using protocols that follow model guidance and knowing where to turn for help is critical. Join Forefront in the Schools and Maureen Underwood & Marney Rhoda for a full day custom designed Lifelines Postvention training for schools and districts. The training will be interactive with small breakout group activities and individual activities with plenty of topic led discussion. This training is an excellent option for a school or district level crisis response team to take together. The training content will include the following topics:

• Lifelines introduction and overview

• The impact of grief and loss in a school community

• The importance of postvention in the support of a school community

• Theories behind Lifelines Postvention (Trauma informed schools, Crisis intervention, Grief theory, Contagion theory)

• Postvention in practice (Impact variables, Crisis Team roles and responsibilities, Crisis Team checklist, Vulnerable students, Curriculum adjustments, Memorials, Social media)

• Practicing what you’ve learned: Tabletop Exercises Handouts will be developed and included in this training to provide all attending school districts with the essential tools for customizing a proactive postvention plan for their schools.

These handouts will include but are not limited to:

• Readiness survey

• Tasks of grief adapted to school communities

• Crisis team roles and responsibilities

• Crisis team checklists

• Sample postvention policies and procedures

• Samples of communication to faculty, staff and parents

This opportunity is open to ten school-based teams of 3-5, or a total participant count of 50. Schools must register for this training as a team. Registration will be approved by Forefront once full team membership is accounted for.