Tallahassee, Fla.—In support of September as National Suicide Awareness Month and National Suicide Prevention Week, the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice is launching its newly updated suicide prevention curriculum for all DJJ and contracted provider staff. The goals of this curriculum are to increase awareness about suicide and better equip staff with the knowledge to understand, respond and support youth in crisis.

“Suicide prevention is an integral part of the work we do at DJJ,” said DJJ Secretary Simone Marstiller.  “It begins at the first point of contact with a youth, and we continually assess suicide risk the entire time a youth is in a DJJ program or facility.”

This new curriculum was created based on current research, best practices and the Gatekeeper™ training concept. The curriculum will consist of updated components on understanding suicide and terminology, identifying risk factors and warning signs, and learning appropriate ways to talk about suicide and respond. This curriculum will replace the current suicide prevention curriculum used by DJJ and will be phased in over the next few months.

DJJ also hosted an employee wellness event to coincide with Suicide Awareness Month. The event included self-care techniques, health tips and resources centered around learning how to take care of yourself in order to take care of others. 

###