Today’s students continue to face unprecedented pressures, including continuing to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic that may lead to emotional distress, depression, anxiety, and even thoughts of suicide. The increase in these pressures has resulted in the U.S Surgeon General recognizing Youth Mental Health as a public health crisis: 

“Mental health challenges in children, adolescents, and young adults are real and widespread. Even before the pandemic, an alarming number of young people struggled with feelings of helplessness, depression, and thoughts of suicide — and rates have increased over the past decade” said Surgeon General Vivek Murthy (December 2021).

As educators, we can help mitigate these mental health risks and save lives by learning how to recognize signs of emotional distress, warning signs for harm to self or others including the crisis of suicide, and how to help students access supports. 

Take these 3 simple steps:
1. Review and adhere to the “2022-23 SCUSD Suicide Risk Assessment Procedures.” 
2. Distribute these procedures to school staff and review the steps taken when a concern about student safety is identified. These procedures apply in all educational settings (i.e. in person, virtual, during school day or during extracurricular school events). 
3. Ensure all staff complete the online suicide prevention training: Kognito – Emotional & Mental Wellness SCUSD Student Suicide Prevention Training Mandate State Law AB2246, AB1767, & SCUSD Board Policy 5141.52 requires all district staff and all other adults who work with students to be trained in suicide prevention awareness.

SCUSD has adopted Kognito, an online role-play simulation to help us recognize the signs of distress, use conversations to approach a student, discuss our concerns and refer parents/students to the appropriate resources. The Kognito simulations let you practice these challenging conversations at your own pace through role-play with an emotionally-responsive virtual student or parent.

For the 2022-23 school year, all district staff are required to complete the Kognito Simulation Emotional & Mental Wellness which meets the mandated suicide prevention awareness training requirement and provides professional development about the importance of emotional and mental health wellness. The Emotional & Mental Wellness simulation will take approximately 45-60 minutes to complete.

In addition, any district staff hired after July 1, 2022 will need to complete a minimum of one of the Kognito At-Risk Suite Simulations which include: 
— At-Risk for High School Educators,
— At-Risk for Middle School Educators
— At-Risk for Elementary School Educators

In order to access the online Kognito simulations follow the directions below.

Step 1: Visit SCUSD.Kognito.com

Step 2: Log in or create a new account

Step 3: Launch the Emotional & Mental Wellness simulation. You will also have access to all of the At-Risk simulations, should you be interested and/or want to complete additional simulations. You may start and stop the simulation anytime and will be able to pick back up where you stopped.

Step 4: Complete the ending evaluation, which will automatically generate your certificate of completion. The system will electronically track your certificate and indicate you have met the state law mandate. You do not have to submit anything further to the district.

If you have any issues with logging in or questions about the Kognito simulations – please reach out to the Student Support & Health Services team – Victoria Flores, Executive Director, SSHS at victoria-flores@scusd.edu or Jacqueline Rodriguez, Director, Student Support Services at jacqueline-rodriguez@scud.edu.

Thank you for your work in enhancing the safety net for youth by completing these simulations. Together we can all help keep our students and community safe.