The Montana Crisis Action School Toolkit on Suicide (Montana CAST-S 2017) was developed in a collaboration between the Big Sky Council and NAMI Montana to support Montana school communities in meeting requirements of Montana state legislative statute HB381 (2017). The goal in the creation of CAST-S was to support each school district and their communities to have access to much needed resources in developing their own protocols and crisis plan for preventing and addressing youth suicides.
The CAST-S is a free resource for all Montana school leaders and staff. Mental health and suicide prevention leaders from across Montana have been interviewed and have provided input in this suicide prevention toolkit, which is based on best practices in suicide prevention for schools.
NAMI Montana would like to give special thanks to Rep. Dennis Lenz for sponsoring the HB381, Dr. Scott and Donna Poland for writing CAST-S,
Big Sky AACAP for funding the project, NAMI Montana Treasurer Tiff Hanson for her vision for the project and Dr. Len Lantz for shepherding the concept from idea through finished project.We are also deeply appreciative of the cooperation of Tracy Moseman and Holly Mook of the Montana Office of Public Instruction; Karl Rosston, the
DPHHS Montana Suicide Prevention Coordinator; and Kirk Miller of the School Administrators of Montana.Please check out the CAST-S website find the document and then share it with your local school board.
