Legal and Ethical Guide by Kelsey Womack

My Professional Perspective- Crisis Management

kwomack4_ — 2024-07-25 04:06:48 UTC

The topic I am choosing is Crisis Management.
My professional perspective on crisis management specifically suicide prevention is that with the increase in suicide ideation it is critical that plans and protocols be put into place for each school to protect our staff and our students.

My field is in School Counseling and my audience is my administrators.

Governing Agency

kwomack4_ — 2024-07-25 04:06:52 UTC

Texas Education Agency is the whom governs the regulations for school counselors. They are sanctioned by the state and they make the rules and regulations for school districts to follow (TEA,2024) I learned that governing bodies really work with state regulations to guide their rules and regulations.

Texas Education Agency. (2024). The responsibilities of school counselors and other staff members. Section III.

Federal & State Constitutional Laws

kwomack4_ — 2024-07-25 04:06:56 UTC

US Constitution: The 10th amendment which states that policies can be created by the state. (U.S Const. amend. X)Because there is nothing in the Constitution that specifically would cover this topic the States will be responsible to create the laws and regulations to protect counselors and other educators.

https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-10/

Texas Constitution states "A general diffusion of knowledge being essential to the preservation of the liberties and rights of the people, it shall be the duty of the Legislature of the State to establish and make suitable provision for the support and maintenance of an efficient system of public free schools." (Tex. Const. Sec. 1, 1876)

https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/CN/htm/CN.7.htm#:~:text=A%20general%20diffusion%20of%20knowledge,15%2C%201876.)

The US Constitution is giving the states the right to make laws and regulations.
Texas wants schools to honor the rights of the people which is in the US Constitution.

Statue & Administrative Law

kwomack4_ — 2024-07-25 04:06:59 UTC

Statue- Texas Education Code [TEC] § 33.005(b.2) School counselors are to create their program to include a responsive component which includes intervening when a student is a danger to themselves or others and this hinders their educational success.Administrative- Texas Administrative Code [TAC] § 61.1051 Although this doesn’t talk about suicide it does talk about the prevention and awareness of abuse which is explain what school staff must do if they suspect a student is being abused.

Responsive components in a school counselors program is important for their planning so that if a crisis happens a school counselor has plans to support that student.
The administrative code states how important it is to have prevention plans for staff.

Texas Administrative Code,§ 61.1051 (2018).

https://texreg.sos.state.tx.us/public/readtac%24ext.TacPage?sl=R&app=9&p_dir=&p_rloc=&p_tloc=&p_ploc=&pg=1&p_tac=&ti=19&pt=2&ch=61&rl=1051
Texas Education Code. § 33.005(b.2) (1995).

Common Laws

kwomack4_ — 2024-07-25 04:07:02 UTC

Rogers v. Christina School District, 2013 is a court case where a family is upset that their child had suicidal ideation and they were not informed and the school counselor decided although the student attempted suicide two days earlier and the day before wanted to hurt himself; that he was no longer a threat to himself and sent him back to class and when the student went home he committed suicide. (Rogers v. Christina School District, 2013) This case impacts my topic because the counselor did not properly utilize a plan she should have had in place to prevent the student from furthering harming himself.

In this court case the school counselor did not have a plan in place to support the student and did not take proper precaution to prevent the student from hurting himself.

Rogers v. Christina School District, 2013. https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6110800679693924401&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr

Federal Mandate

kwomack4_ — 2024-07-25 04:07:05 UTC

The US Department of Health and Human Services has created strategies for the prevention of suicide and says that "seeks to prevent suicide risk in the first place." ( US Department of Health and Human Services, 2024)

US Department of Health and Human Services, 2024. 2024 National strategy for suicide prevention. https://www.hhs.gov/programs/prevention-and-wellness/mental-health-substance-abuse/national-strategy-suicide-prevention/index.html

Local Administrative Laws/Policy

kwomack4_ — 2024-07-25 04:07:09 UTC

Bland ISD’s board policy states that “ Provisions for supporting the psychological safety of students, district personnel, and the community during the response and recovery phase following a disaster or emergency situation that: Are aligned with best practice-based programs and research-based practices recommended under Education Code (Bland ISD. CKC)

School aligns with the Education code to support students in crisis situations.

Bland ISD Board. (2024). Board Policy Manual § CKC- Counseling and mental health: mental health.https://s3.amazonaws.com/scschoolfiles/4351/ffeblegal.pdf

Risk Management Strategies

kwomack4_ — 2024-07-25 04:07:12 UTC

Risk Management steps that can be taken for Crisis Management to have a crisis team put into place with policies that the school counselor and other crisis team members can follow. Make sure to have a debrief to cover anything that has not been done that is in the policy. This holds all member accountable and the student or students can receive the help they need.

Ethical Principles

kwomack4_ — 2024-07-25 04:07:16 UTC

The American School Counselor Association (ASCA) states that school counselors should inform the appropriate individuals if a student is a harm to themselves or others. (ASCA, 2018. A.9.A) This impacts crisis management because it helps when creating the plan and crisis team.

American School Counselor Association. (2018) ASCA Ethical Standards for School Counselors.

https://www.schoolcounselor.org/About-School-Counseling/Ethical-Responsibilities/ASCA-Ethical-Standards-for-School-Counselors-(1)

Personal Connection

kwomack4_ — 2024-07-25 04:07:18 UTC

While doing my research a lot of the Ethical and Laws correlate to what I already know as an educator. We want to keep our students safe and make them feel safe so that they can be successful in the classroom. The laws all state that there needs to be a plan put into place so that educators can protect our students and know how to handle crisis situations.

Best Practices

kwomack4_ — 2024-07-25 04:07:22 UTC

Policy Development- Every school needs to have a comprehensive policy put into place for crisis prevention or management.
Creation of Crisis Team- Schools should create a team of individuals that have more training to support students with crisis situations.
Training- School counselors and other stake holders need to continue training on crisis management because of the evolution of development of students.
Resources- Students and families should be provided relevant mental health resources to support them with their needs.
Curriculum- Mental health skills and coping should be taught to students within the school counseling program.
Risk Assessments- To better support our students when we believe they are in a crisis situation the school counselor should have risk assessments to help determine the actions that need to be taken.