Suicide Prevention in Child Welfare

Mental Health America of Wisconsin is pleased to announce that trainers are available to provide suicide prevention training to private child welfare agency staffs. The training, The Ones We Miss, was developed by the North East Wisconsin Child Welfare Training Partnership and has been provided through them and other child welfare training partnerships to public child welfare staffs. The training has been very well received.

Two types of trainings are available:

  • A full day training for child welfare staffs.
  • A 3-hour training for foster parents.

Due to the availability of grant funds, the trainer and materials will be provided at no charge to 15 agencies/organizations through July 31, 2015. The sponsoring agency will be responsible for costs associated with the training venue and food. The training is designed to be provided for up to about 24 participants.

Through this training participants will:

Understand the phenomenology of suicide and its impact on children and adolescents.

Understand the warning signs, risk factors, and protective factors of suicide when assessing children and families.

Gain an understanding of the scope of the problem facing Wisconsin and thus Child Protective Services and Juvenile Justice Professionals.

Awareness and understanding of who are the "Ones We Miss",including children in out of home care and youthwho arebullied.

Have an opportunity to discuss several strategies currently utilized in Wisconsin to address the problem of child/adolescent suicide to use in case planning.

Develop a system of care and crisis plan for a child/adolescent in the system to use in case planning.

Although this training is primarily for private child welfare staffs a mixture of private and public child welfare staff can be accommodated.

If you are interested in arranging a training please contact:

Kathy Markeland

Associate Director

WI Association of Family & Children's Agencies

608/257-5939

Child welfare staff can also search for training available through the regional training partnerships in PDS Online. Search “Impact of Suicide on Youth And Families: The Ones We Miss” at this link: