22.1-272.1 - Responsibility to contact parent of student at imminent risk of suicide; notice to be given to social services if parental abuse or neglect; Board of Education, in cooperation with the De - Virginia Statutes

§ 22.1-272.1. Responsibility to contact parent of student at imminent risk ofsuicide; notice to be given to social services if parental abuse or neglect;Board of Education, in cooperation with the Department of Behavioral Healthand Developmental Services and the Department of Health, to developguidelines for parental contact.

A. Any person licensed as administrative or instructional personnel by theBoard of Education and employed by a local school board who, in the scope ofhis employment, has reason to believe, as a result of direct communicationfrom a student, that such student is at imminent risk of suicide, shall, assoon as practicable, contact at least one of such student's parents to askwhether such parent is aware of the student's mental state and whether theparent wishes to obtain or has already obtained counseling for such student.Such contact shall be made in accordance with the provisions of theguidelines required by subsection C.

B. If the student has indicated that the reason for being at imminent risk ofsuicide relates to parental abuse or neglect, this contact shall not be madewith the parent. Instead, the person shall, as soon as practicable, notifythe local department of social services of the county or city wherein thechild resides or wherein the abuse or neglect is believed to have occurred orthe state Department of Social Services' toll-free child abuse and neglecthotline, as required by § 63.2-1509. When giving this notice to the local orstate department, the person shall stress the need to take immediate actionto protect the child from harm.

C. The Board of Education, in cooperation with the Department of BehavioralHealth and Developmental Services and the Department of Health, shall developguidelines for making the contact required by subsection A. These guidelinesshall include, but need not be limited to, (i) criteria to assess the suiciderisks of students, (ii) characteristics to identify potentially suicidalstudents, (iii) appropriate responses to students expressing suicidalintentions, (iv) available and appropriate community services for studentsexpressing suicidal intentions, (v) suicide prevention strategies which maybe implemented by local schools for students expressing suicidal intentions,(vi) criteria for notification of and discussions with parents of studentsexpressing suicidal intentions, (vii) criteria for as-soon-as-practicablecontact with the parents, (viii) appropriate sensitivity to religiousbeliefs, and (ix) legal requirements and criteria for notification of publicservice agencies, including, but not limited to, the local or state socialservices and mental health agencies. These guidelines may include casestudies and problem-solving exercises and may be designed as materials forin-service training programs for licensed administrative and instructionalpersonnel.

(1999, c. 425; 2009, cc. 813, 840.)