School division policies related to suicide prevention and response: A MERC research and policy brief

Growing challenges with youth mental health in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic has included increases in suicidal ideation and behaviors, adding to the recent urgency in PK-12 school systems to ensure that students  receive the mental and emotional support that they need. This research and policy brief focuses on what can be done at a policy level to help prevent youth suicide, along with school and division-level practices and  interventions that may prove effective. It pulls from publicly available trend data, peer reviewed literature, and policies at the state and school division level in the MERC region to answer three questions: 1) What are recent  trends in youth suicide? 2) What does research show about school division policies that are effective in suicide prevention and response? and 3) What policies in Virginia and the MERC region guide the prevention of suicide in school divisions? It concludes with a series of takeaways and recommendations for preventing youth suicide through education policy.