Resources and Training for School Staff (K-12)
Resources and Training for
Kids’ Link RI is a free, confidential phone line that connects parents, caregivers, and other people concerned about a child or adolescent to an expert who can help them access services for treatment and counseling. To refer a young person to Kids’ Link RI, call 1-855-543-5465.
The Rhode Island Prevention Resource Center is dedicated to providing training, technical assistance, and capacity-building resources to Rhode Island substance misuse prevention providers and community partners. If you are a teacher in need of training please click on this link Trauma-Sensitive Schools – Overview (riprc.org)
Rhode Island Student Assistance Services (RISAS) provides evidence-based programs in schools and communities to prevent substance misuse and promote mental health. Learn more about the middle and high schools that have student assistance counselors Participating Schools – Rhode Island Student Assistance Services (risas.org)
SPI is youth suicide prevention program that helps K-12 school staff connect elementary, middle, and high school students with mental health services. Getting involved in the program starts with training for teachers and staff to learn how to identify a student who may be in crisis. To learn about getting training at your school, contact Leigh A. Reposa at Lreposa@risas.org or 401-952-7260, program manager at Rhode Island Student Assistance Services (RISAS). Read the SPI Handbook for more information.
A guide for young adults age 14-25 about getting ready to be in charge of their healthcare. The guide includes information about mental health and crisis services. You can find the Spanish version here
Training is available for School Staff (K-12) and School Communities
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) offers More Than Sad, a teen mental health training for high school students, parents, and teachers.
Signs of Suicide is an evidence-based youth suicide prevention program for grades 6-12 that has demonstrated an improvement in students’ knowledge and adaptive attitudes about suicide risk and depression. It teaches students how to identify signs of depression and suicide in themselves and their peers, while providing materials that train school professionals, parents, and communities to recognize at-risk students and take appropriate action.
Youth Mental Health Webinars: Rhode Island Student Assistance Services (RISAS) has free webinars on a wide variety of youth mental health topics recorded on their website. Topics include everything from supporting your LGBTQIA child, to life after the pandemic, to recognizing substance abuse in young people, to understanding social media and young people.
Training in QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer), an evidence-based training about the warning signs of suicide and how to refer a youth for help, is available to all school districts and community organizations. For more information or to request training for your school or organization, contact Program Manager Leigh A. Reposa at Lreposa@risas.org or 401-952-7260.
Elementary, middle, and high schools: The SPI is an innovative and coordinated youth suicide prevention referral system that links elementary, middle, and high school students with mental health services. It diverts at-risk students experiencing a mental health crisis from unneeded emergency room visits and inpatient services by connecting them to local mental health services (Kids’ Link RI) with follow-up support. For more information or to request training for your school on the SPI, contact Rhode Island Student Assistance Services Program Manager Leigh A. Reposa at Lreposa@risas.org or 401-952-7260.
The Samaritans of Rhode Island offer professional development and school-based training.
The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention offers this suicide prevention training available for general audiences with specific modules for seniors, LGBTQ people, and workplace settings.
Now Matters Now, a skills-based site grounded in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and supported by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, offers free training for those with suicidal thoughts, substance or mental health problems or their family members and friends. It also offers courses for healthcare, crisis, peer support service and school counseling providers.
The Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence offers a range of training broadly related to preventing and responding to domestic and gender-based violence, including such topics as Domestic Violence 101, cybersecurity and domestic violence, bystander intervention, and more.
RIPRC.org is an online prevention resource and is the official website of the Rhode Island Prevention Resource Center. The RIPRC lists many mental health and substance abuse prevention training opportunities on their calendar.