About Us

School administrators, staff, teachers, mental health providers, and all other school personnel play an important role in creating and modeling a supportive school community.

Suicide prevention should be an integral component of a comprehensive, multi-disciplinary system of mental health and safety supports. Creating policies for suicide prevention is just one aspect of creating a healthy school culture—but it’s one that can create lasting impacts on students, staff, and families.

SupportiveTogether.org organizes resources and content around the three tiers of suicide prevention practice:

These guidelines are not intended to be prescriptive. You’ll know best how to adapt these guidelines to help your school thrive.

• 1999: The Virginia General Assembly passed Senate Bill 1250, which required the Board of Education to develop guidelines for school personnel to identify and respond to students at risk of suicide. The guidelines included nine key components, such as criteria for assessing suicide risk, identifying potentially suicidal students, appropriate responses and community services, prevention strategies, parent notification procedures, and legal requirements for contacting public service agencies.
• 2000: The Virginia General Assembly passed Senate Joint Resolution 148, which directed multiple state departments and organizations to collaborate on developing a comprehensive youth suicide prevention plan. The resulting “Youth Suicide Prevention Plan” recommended that the Virginia Department of Education update its Suicide Prevention Guidelines to include criteria for following up with parents after initial contact regarding students with suicidal intentions. The Virginia Board of Education adopted this revision in 2003.
• 2000: The Virginia Assembly created the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety (VCSCS) under Code of Virginia § 9.1-184, positioning it within the Department of Criminal Justice Services. The center was established to improve safety by addressing issues that impact Virginia law enforcement, schools, and higher education institutions. VCSCS serves as a resource and training center that provides information and research on safety efforts and initiatives for K-12 schools and colleges throughout Virginia and the nation.
• 2013: Since July 1, 2013, Virginia public schools have been required by Code of Virginia § 22.1-79.4 to establish threat assessment teams that evaluate and intervene with individuals whose behavior may threaten school safety. These teams are responsible for providing guidance to students, faculty, and staff on recognizing threatening or aberrant behavior that may pose risks to the community, school, or individual. When a threat assessment team determines that a student poses a threat to themselves or others, they must immediately notify senior school administration.
• 2019: The Governor’s Children’s Cabinet Student Safety Workgroup made a recommendation to enhance student health and safety protections. The workgroup recommended that the Virginia Department of Education update and distribute the Virginia Suicide Prevention Guidelines to all school divisions promptly. This effort was to be conducted in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Health, the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services, and the Virginia Center for School and Campus Safety.
• 2020: The Virginia Department of Education published the Suicide Prevention Guidelines for Virginia Public Schools, with input from state agencies, school division personnel, representations from suicide prevention and mental health advocacy organizations, and parents.
• 2024: The Virginia Department of Health worked with the VCU Institute of Collaborative Research and Evaluation to conduct a gap analysis of awareness and implementation of the VDOE guidelines.
• 2025: The Virginia Department of Health funded the creation of SupportiveTogether.org to make these important guidelines more broadly accessible to school administrators and staff.