September is Suicide Prevention Month, and the School-Based Mental Health 2023-2024 ECHO series is gearing up to equip and empower school-based professionals with resources to address suicide in their school communities. 

Register here to join the ECHO series at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 13, and Wednesday, Sept. 27, for Zoom courses on "Taking Action on Suicide Prevention and Response" and "Planning for Suicide Postvention." 

Registration is open to everyone at no cost, and continuing education credit is available for nurses and social workers at no cost. 

Melanie Scott, a school counselor leader coordinator for the Kansas State Department of Education, and Angie Salava, director of social-emotional learning and mental health/Behavior and Social Emotional Learning at Olathe Unified School District 233, will focus on the Kansas Suicide Prevention, Response and Postvention Toolkit. 

The School-Based Mental Health 2023-2024 ECHO series works to foster a collaborative and supportive environment to address the most pressing student and staff mental health priorities identified by school-based partners in student mental health. 

Via a statewide needs assessment, Kansas school counselors, nurses and social workers prioritized the topics of stress, anxiety, trauma, suicide, crisis management, mental illness, mental health first aid and school staff member wellness for this ECHO series. These topics and more are being explored throughout this year-long course. 

Other topics for the rest of the 2023 are: 

• Oct. 11 - Bridging Gaps to Mental Health Access with Medicaid. Speaker - Celia Ruiz, social determinant of health program coordinator for UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Kansas. 
• Oct. 25: Supporting Students with Mental Illness. Speaker - Sarah L. Gilliland, director of health services for Olathe USD 233. 
• Nov. 8: Building Resilient Students and Staff. Speaker - Angie Salava. 
• Dec. 6: Managing Stress: Take a Real Winter Break. Speaker - Kenda Fischer, school psychologist, Southeast Kansas Interlocal No. 637. 

More sessions will be announced in January 2024.