School Crisis Recovery and Renewal

School Suicide Postvention x Recovery and Renewal

Embracing and Expanding Postvention

in / for Our Schools

Access Materials To Help Guide Your Work

This page hosts materials from across our events that offer resources and learning on suicide postvention + recovery and renewal.

This video provides an overview for people who are participating in the “Embracing and Expanding Postvention in/for our Schools” Community of Practice and who missed the first session.

Resources to Support School Suicide Postvention + Recovery and Renewal

General

Grade School (K-12)

Military

Workplace

College

Faith Based

Rural Community

  • Resource coming soon!

Training

Video / Podcast

Supporting Materials

Research

Have other resources connected to Suicide Postvention in Schools?

Help grow our SCRR resource library by submitting a resource here.

Embracing and Expanding Postvention in / for Our Schools Community of Practice

During our first year at SCRR, we had multiple school sites, districts and counties ask us about suicide postvention. And this past year was heavy for so many: the combination of uncertainty, isolation, and prevalence of suicidal behaviors has heightened the importance of paying increased attention to how communities, especially school communities, can effectively recover and renew after a school community experiences a death by suicide death by respond when a suicide occurs. 

Because we at SCRR are about what happens after a crisis, we want to create space and place for this national conversation.

The Embracing & Expanding Postvention in/for Our Schools Community of Practice launched September 2021 and will continue until May 2022, and is open nationally to educators, youth advocates, mental health providers, crisis responders, school site leaders, and school mental health professionals to:

  • Learn about suicide postvention- where the field is now, and where it can go (e.g., what does long term postvention look like? Should it even be called “postvention”?)
  • Approach suicide postvention through grief sensitive, trauma informed, healing centered, and youth-focused work
  • Collaboratively create content (and eventually a training) that could be used to train others that expands postvention beyond the first weeks after a death by suicide (containment) and for longer, more holistic impact (incorporating restorative circles, meaning making, and mourning)
  • Center Black and Indigenous youth postvention needs, innovations, practices
  • Provide an overview of important topics to support trauma-informed and culturally appropriate responses in school communities in suicide aftermath.

Together, we’ll establish shared definitions and present nuanced perspectives on how to provide suicide postvention in school settings.

Below are posted decks for each session. Recordings will not be posted to respect confidentiality of the Community of Practice, with the exception of Session 1 to ensure all participants have a common grounding. If you have questions about this Community of Practice, please contact us.

Session 1: Thursday, September 23, 2021

Session 2: Thursday, October 28, 2021

  • Session materials will be posted the day of the event

Session 3: Thursday, November 18, 2021

  • Session materials will be posted the day of the event

Session 4: Thursday, January 27, 2022

  • Session materials will be posted the day of the event

Session 5: Thursday, February 24, 2022

  • Session materials will be posted the day of the event

Session 6: Thursday, March 24, 2022

  • Session materials will be posted the day of the event

Session 7: Thursday, April 28, 2022

  • Session materials will be posted the day of the event

Session 8: Thursday, May 26, 2022

  • Session materials will be posted the day of the event

Co-Facilitators and Coordinators

Zeruiah Buchanan

Zeruiah Buchanan (she/her) has been the suicide prevention epidemiologist at AHCCCS and is transitioning into a new role as a doctoral student in the Epidemiology Department at University of Washington. Her former education includes psychology, Africana studies, community health education, epidemiology, and biostatistics. Her experience as a Black Woman in America and educational background has moved her to be an activist and advocate for marginalized communities that are often made invisible. It is a personal and professional goal for her to promote work surrounding mental health, health equity, and cultural humility. For the Embracing & Expanding Postvention in/for Our Schools Community of Practice, Zeruiah hopes to create a brave space for discussion and bidirectional learning.

Francesca Osuana

Francesca Osuana (she/her) is currently a Field Coach with the School Crisis Recovery and Renewal (SCRR) Project and joined the project in 2020 through her work with Trauma Transformed, where she focuses on trauma-informed systems and has collaborated with county behavioral health, local school districts, and public health departments, among others. Prior to her work with SCRR, Francesca was a school social worker and was regularly called in to support students dealing with suicidal ideation. Before becoming a social worker, she was a crisis hotline volunteer and  worked under a psychiatric epidemiologist who focuses on suicide prevention. As part of the Embracing & Expanding Postvention in/for Our Schools Community of Practice, Francesca is committed to uplifting community wisdom, prioritizing racial equity and destigmatizing mental health.