Youth involved with the child welfare system are at substantially higher risk for suicide than the general population, making social work students and child welfare staff an optimal audience for suicide prevention training. Through lectures, interviews, readings, experiential exercises, and reflection prompts, learners will understand the unique risks that child welfare involved youth have for suicide as well as techniques to express concern, ask directly about suicide, and respond to suicide risk. 

This free, publicly available suicide prevention course tailored for a child welfare audience is the culmination of a partnership between the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Children’s Services Agency and Injury & Violence Prevention Section, the University of Michigan’s Department of Psychiatry and School of Social Work, and the Transforming Youth Suicide Prevention in Michigan (TYSP-Mi3) program. TYSP-Mi3 is funded by cooperative agreement 5H79SM082148 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to the MDHHS. The views expressed in written materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services, nor does the mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.