(a) Each LEA shall adopt a policy on student suicide prevention. The policies shall be developed in consultation with school and community stakeholders, school-employed mental health professionals, and suicide prevention experts, and shall, at a minimum, address procedures relating to suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention.

(b) To assist LEAs in developing policies for student suicide prevention, the department of education shall establish a model policy in consultation with the office of crisis services and suicide prevention of the department of mental health and substance abuse services and the department of health. An LEA may develop its own policy or adopt the model policy.

The department of education shall establish a student support collaborative to review and define the roles and responsibilities for school social workers, school counselors, school psychologists, and school nurses. The collaborative shall identify available resources and areas that school social workers, school counselors, school psychologists, and school nurses can collaborate on to provide high quality support to students. The collaborative shall include, at a minimum, representatives from the following organizations:

• (1) The department of education;
• (2) Local education agencies (LEAs);
• (3) The National Association of Social Workers, Tennessee Chapter;
• (4) The Tennessee Association of School Social Workers;
• (5) The Tennessee Association of School Counselors;
• (6) The Tennessee Association of School Nurses;
• (7) The Tennessee Association of School Psychologists; and
• (8) The Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth.

The state departments of education, mental health and substance abuse services, and intellectual and developmental disabilities shall take the following actions to improve and coordinate services for behavioral/emotionally disordered children. Any policy change required as a result of these actions will be presented to the state board of education for review and approval:

• (1) Delineation of each state and local agency's responsibilities;
• (2) Development of joint agency planning and training, especially between Tennessee's state and local agencies of mental health and substance abuse services, intellectual and developmental disabilities and education;
• (3) Development of a systematic process for securing funding for a continuum of related service options;
• (4) Development of a definition of the target population;
• (5) Development of ongoing needs assessment process that addresses:
• (A) The complex and diverse needs of the children and their families; and
• (B) The resources of schools, mental health/intellectual and developmental disabilities providers, and public/private agencies;
• (6) Prepare an inventory of a continuum of existing services and options, known private or public agencies and families;
• (7) Development of an interagency agreement on the principles to be included in a plan of care as they relate to intervention or treatment goals. The plan of care shall have:
• (A) Child involvement if developmentally appropriate;
• (B) Measurable outcomes;
• (C) Identification of agency or agencies that shall monitor the plan of care;
• (D) Family involvement; and
• (E) Sensitivity to unique cultural needs; and
• (8) Development of interagency training plan in the area of truancy prevention.

This Implementation Guide provides school counselors and school leadership teams with guidance for developing and implementing the revised school counseling model and Standard. This guide includes a detailed explanation of each component of the model, along with examples and templates for schools to use.