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Professional Perspective: I will take the perspective of a college counselor at Ranger College.

Field of Education: Master of Education in Guidance and Counseling

Audience: This legal guide padlet may be used by faculty and staff as a resource for Suicide Prevention and Procedures.

Topic: Suicide Prevention at a Rural Community College

Reason for selection:  I decided to focus on suicide prevention because as a future college counselor I need to have a better understanding of the legal and ethical issues that come with it. Once I educate myself, I can educate others on the proper protocol on suicide prevention.

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I interviewed  Mr. Gabe Lewis, College Counselor at Ranger College in Ranger, Texas.
https://www.rangercollege.edu/psychology/

Suicide Prevention impacts my field of education because there has been a need of legislative mandates with the rise of suicides on college campuses.  Unfortunately, there are limited professional resources in our rural area (G. Lewis, personal communication, February 28, 2020).

Mr. Lewis suggested the following practices:

All institutions should have a  suicide prevention policy/protocol in place to make sure that everyone understands the proper procedure.

Counselors and all college employees must be keep up to date with laws, regulations, and school policies that are in place.

College counselors should read the book "The Counselor and the Law: A Guide to Legal and Ethical Practice"

(G. Lewis, personal communication, February 28, 2020).

Emergent Issue
An emergent issue that educational institutions face is the lack of knowledge regarding legal liability and suicide prevention and response. This causes institutions and their personnel  to face legal liability  (G. Lewis, personal communication, February 28, 2020).

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Summary:

The Suicide Prevention Resource Center wrote the article Suicide among College and University Students in the United States. This article is relevant because it gives statistics pertaining to suicide among college students. It demonstrates the importance of suicide prevention in colleges and universities across the United States.

Link: http://www.sprc.org/sites/default/files/migrate/library/SuicideAmongCollegeStudentsInUS.pdf

Reference

Suicide Prevention Resource Center. (2014). Suicide among college and university students in the United States. Waltham, MA: Education Development Center, Inc.

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Svrluga (2019), describes an article where Washington and Lee University is being sued by a student who had try to talk the counselor regarding his suicidal thoughts. The students was dismissed after 10 minutes because the counselor had another of appointment, and then the student attempted suicide twice. The counselor did not followed a proper suicide prevention protocol and her breach of duty caused injury to the student. This is why it is vital for post secondary institutions to establish a suicide prevention policy in order to avoid legal liability.

Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/01/09/former-student-sues-washington-lee-university-negligence-after-his-attempted-suicide/

Reference

Svrluga, S. (2019). Former student who attempted suicide sues Washington and Lee University, alleging negligence. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/01/09/former-student-sues-washington-lee-university-negligence-after-his-attempted-suicide/

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Jaschik (2018), describes an article where a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology committed suicide after his professor told him an email he had sent was unprofessional and rude. The Massachusetts court ruled the university was not liable because they were not aware of his suicidal tendencies. Negligence is the area of tort liability that colleges and universities most often deal with. The court said that failure to prevent suicide in some cases causes universities and educators to be held liable.

Link: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/05/08/top-court-massachusetts-finds-colleges-and-professors-have-duty-prevent-student

Reference
Jashik. S. (2018). The Duty to prevent suicide. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/05/08/top-court-massachusetts-finds-colleges-and-professors-have-duty-prevent-student

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Constitutional Law: Fourteenth Amendment (U.S. Const. amend. XIV).

The fourteenth amendment gives equal protection to students with suicidal ideation because it is viewed as a disability.

This amendment guarantees equal rights for all citizens.
Link: https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxiv

Reference
U.S. Const. amend. XIV

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Statutory Law: Required Information for Entering Students Regarding Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Services (Tex. Educ. Code § 51.9194).

Colleges and Universities in the State of Texas are required to provide information to students on suicide prevention and warning signs at the beginning of each academic year.

The information must be given via video, live performance, or interactive.

Link: https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/ED/htm/ED.51.htm

Reference

Required Information for Entering Students Regarding Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Services, Texas. Education Code § 51.9194

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Judicial Law: Schieszler v. Ferrum College, 236 F. Supp. 2d 602 (W.D. Va. 2002)

This case ruled that the college had a duty to protect the student and that the college’ employees breached their duty to the student which ended in Fretzel’ suicide.

The college committed negligence and suffered a financial risk.

Link: https://1-next-westlaw-com.easydb.angelo.edu/Document/I5c5831fd53ff11d9a99c85a9e6023ffa/View/FullText.html?navigationPath=Search%2Fv1%2Fresults%2Fnavigation%2Fi0ad7403500000170757c4d67f2b20d37%3FNav%3DCASE%26fragmentIdentifier%3DI5c5831fd53ff11d9a99c85a9e6023ffa%26parentRank%3D0%26startIndex%3D1%26contextData%3D%2528sc.Search%2529%26transitionType%3DSearchItem&listSource=Search&listPageSource=51bf49907a41a6b9801846948cae2fd5&list=ALL&rank=1&sessionScopeId=12276a72066f2344cbb6e05a7fbffb17a7526c1311a4f6fa21971e9ad7422304&originationContext=Search%20Result&transitionType=SearchItem&contextData=%28sc.Search%29

Reference

Schieszler v. Ferrum College, 236 F. Supp. 2d 602 (W.D. Va. 2002)

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Administrative Law: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 34 C.F.R. §99.

FERPA exception: when dealing with a health and safety emergency such as suicide, institutions may disclose educational records to appropriate individuals or parties.

Link: https://gov.ecfr.io/cgi-bin/text-idx?SID=06a5b78e4e3ca25704195924090ed554&mc=true&node=se34.1.99_136&rgn=div8

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 34 C.F.R. §99.

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Slide #10: Local Administrative Law/Policy/Rule

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Slide #10: Local Administrative Law/Policy/Rule

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Middlesex Community College in Massachuttes updated its suicide prevention protocol to provide education and guidance to faculty, staff, students, and college community members. I selected this community college’ policy because they are very thorough in suicide prevention procedures and training. This college offers frequent suicide prevention workshops for faculty, staff, and students. In addition, the Dean of Students oversees their Student Assessment and Intervention Team, which provides centralized intervention for at-risk students.

Link: https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/deanofstudents/downloads/suicideprev.pdf

Reference

Middlesex Community College. (2019). Student suicide prevention protocol. Retrieved from

https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/deanofstudents/downloads/suicideprev.pdf

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A.9. Serious and Foreseeable Harm to Self and Others standard stays that counselors must use risk assessments with caution and an intervention plan should follow. Counselors must not release a student who is a danger to self or others until the student has proper and necessary support (ASCA, 2016).  If counselors do not follow their ethical principles, the institution and/or counselor may face legal liability.

Link: https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/Ethics/EthicalStandards2016.pdf

Reference

American School Counseling Association (2016).  ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors. Retrieved from https://www.schoolcounselor.org/asca/media/asca/Ethics/EthicalStandards2016.pdf

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In 2014, The Higher Education Mental Health Alliance published Postvention: A Guide for Response to Suicide on College Campuses. This guide is intended to help institutions to be prepared in the event of campus crisis and campus deaths. This resource has a connection with my topic because a good postvention plan can have a positive impact on suicide prevention.

Link: http://www.sprc.org/sites/default/files/resource-program/Hemha-postvention-guide.pdf

Reference

Higher Education Mental Health Alliance. (2014). Postvention: A Guide for Response to Suicide on College Campuses. Retrieved from http://www.sprc.org/sites/default/files/resource-program/Hemha-postvention-guide.pdf

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 Slide #13: Bulleted list of Recommendations / Best Practices for Compliance

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 Slide #13: Bulleted list of Recommendations / Best Practices for Compliance

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Subscribe to news, periodicals, and professional associations, and non-profit organizations to receive current information regarding suicide and regulatory state and federal laws.

Attend suicide prevention trainings provided at local chapters.

Attend the annual conference organized by the American Association of Suicidology.

Regularly check the following website https://www.govtrack.us/ and create an account to receive current legislation alerts.

Establish a network with other professionals at your institution to stay current with changes and legislation.

Be familiar with the policies and protocols of your institution regarding suicide prevention.