Legal Mandates for Coordinated & Effective Suicide Prevention.

By Taylor Slepian

From 1975 to 2015, there were approximately 100,000 teenage suicide deaths.^[1] In a study done by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, it was discovered that boys commit suicide at 3-4 times the rate of girls.  Yet, girls attempt suicide more often than boys.^[2] In the early 2000s, the youth suicide rate lowered in comparison to previous years.^[3] Some attribute this decline to pediatricians starting to treat depression.^[4] Despite this, the youth suicide rate began rising again starting around 2006.^[5] Throughout the past twelve years, the numbers of teen girls committing suicides has also risen.^[6]

School counselors have a ministerial duty to report child abuse.^[7] Suicidal ideation, however, still often goes unreported to parents.^[8] The legal and moral obligation to report suspected child abuse to authorities is similar in importance to reporting suicidal ideation to parents.^[9]

In Wyke v. Polk County Sch. Bd., a 13-year-old boy committed suicide at home after attempting suicide twice at his school.^[10] School officials were aware of the boy’s attempts but failed to report the attempts to his mother or guardian.^[11] After his first attempt, one of the student’s friends called his mother.^[12] His mother then spoke to the Dean of Students at the school, who reassured the mother that the situation was “handled.” ^[13] A custodian of the school found evidence of the boy’s second attempt and failed to report it adequately.^[14] The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, citing Florida Law, held that the state “imposes a duty on schools to supervise students and notify parents of emergency health needs, including emotional crises.”^[15] Thus, the school board was found partially at fault for the boy’s death.^[16]

Alabama lacks sufficient state infrastructure, which limits effective suicide prevention.^[17] Nonetheless, the Jason Flatt Act provides a statewide mandate enabling the adoption of rules related to suicide prevention.^[18] The Act went into effect on May 10, 2016. ^[19] This Act requires that the Department of Education adopt rules requiring all public-school personnel to annually train in suicide awareness and prevention.^[20] Additionally, each local school system must adopt a student suicide prevention policy including procedures related to prevention, intervention, and postvention.^[21] The Alabama State Department of Education is required to make all information available to students, parents, and school personnel.^[22] The Alabama State Department of Education emphasizes the active involvement and participation of the school and community for success in prevention efforts.^[23]

The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, codified in 20 U.S.C § 1232g, protects the privacy of student education records.^[24] This act applies to all educational agencies.^[25] Under this act, consent from parents is required before a school official is allowed to disclose any personally identifiable information from students’ education records.^[26] Disclosure related to a health or safety emergency is an exception to the act’s consent requirement.^[27] Under this exception, school officials are permitted to disclose a student’s information to the appropriate authorities, without parental consent, if knowledge of the information is necessary for the health or safety of the student or other individuals.^[28]Suicidal thoughts or expressions by a student may be determined by school officials to be a necessary disclosure to the appropriate parties under this exception.^[29]

According to America’s Health Rankings of 2024, Alabama ranks eighth in the United States for teen suicide.^[30]22% of Alabama high school students have seriously considered suicide, and 10% have attempted it.^[31] Thus, the need for mandated prevention and reporting is immense.

Along with the Jason Flatt Act exists the Alabama Youth Suicide Prevention Program from the Alabama Department of Public Health’s Injury Branch.^[32] The purpose of this program is to collaborate with schools, educational institutions, juvenile justice systems, foster care systems,

substance abuse and mental health programs, and other child and youth-supporting organizations.^[33] This program aims to assist institutions with fulfilling the requirements of the Jason Flatt Act.^[34] With partnerships, this program is available to provide suicide prevention training to organizations and institutions in the state.^[35] The training includes recognition of warning signs, responding to suicidal individuals, encouraging help-seeking behavior, and creating action plans.^[36]

The Alabama Commission on the Evaluation of Services assessed the State’s suicide prevention programs in 2020, which resulted in many findings.^[37] First, the commission noted the lack of strategic collaboration among agencies forming the prevention programs.^[38] Existing forms of collaboration instead are ad hoc and incomplete, revolving around individual programs and community reactions to suicide.^[39] Also, the commission noted the programs’ failure to effectively address suicide risk and protective factors.^[40] This failure is related to the lack of sufficient data identifying Alabama-specific risk factors.^[41] Further, the commission noted that Alabama lacks a plan that addresses the entire at-risk population, instead focusing primarily on youth ages 10 – 24, which ignores the majority of the at-risk population.^[42] The commission found that the model policy under the Jason Flatt Act did not “effectively address suicide prevention or awareness.”^[43] The commission refered to the policy as a “clarification of state law providing no direction for local school systems.”^[44] Also, the commission labeled Alabama’s suicide prevention efforts in schools as “ineffective and inefficient due to the unmandated and underregulated approach to training personnel” and an “inefficient use of time and resources.”^[45] The commission reported many more findings as to why the suicide prevention plans may not be efficient.

However, the commission also made key recommendations to the governor and state legislature to improve the efficiency of suicide prevention in Alabama.^[46] The commission recommended designating a lead organization to create and publish an achievable suicide prevention plan.^[47] The commission also recommended updating the plan every five years and hiring a full time State Suicide Prevention Coordinator, among other suggestions.^[48]

Further, the commission made recommendations to the Alabama State Department of Education, such as reporting to the Governor and Legislature annually with reports and reviews.^[49] Moreover, the commission suggested that the Department of Education require annual reporting on the number of personnel required to receive training, the number of personnel that received training, and the type of training used.^[50] This includes developing a list of training programs that fulfill the requirements of the Jason Flatt Act. ^[51] The commission provided many more suggestions and recommendations as part of their 2020 evaluation.^[52]

The commission’s recommendations reflect a recognition that youth mental health struggles and suicide, as well as those of adults, are problems that need grave attention. Hopefully, the implementation of suicide prevention procedures and training will substantially improve over time, resulting in reductions in both suicide and attempted suicide. 

^[1] American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, What Parents Should Know, https://afsp.org/teens-and-suicide-what-parents-should-know/ (last visited Mar. 10, 2026).

^[2] Id.

^[3] Id.

^[4] Id.

^[5] Id.

^[6] Id.

^[7] Carolyn Stone, Ed.D., Suicide and Child Abuse Reporting, https://www.schoolcounselor.org/Magazines/July-August-2018/Suicide-and-Child-Abuse-Reporting (last visited Mar. 10, 2026).

^[8] Id.

^[9] Id.

^[10] Wyke v. Polk County Sch. Bd., 129 F.3d 560, 563 (11th Cir. 1997).

^[11] Id.

^[12] Id.

^[13] Id.

^[14] Id.

^[15] Id.

^[16] Id.

^[17] Suicide Prevention Network of Alabama, Alabama State Suicide Prevention Plan, https://sprc.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Final-Alabama-State-Suicide-Prevention-Plan.pdf (last visited Mar. 10, 2026).

^[18] Id.

^[19] Id.

^[20] Id.

^[21] Id.

^[22] Alabama State Department of Education, ALSDE Model Policy for Suicide Awareness, Prevention, Intervention and Postvention, (May 2021), https://www.alabamaachieves.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/ALSDE-Model-Policy-for-Suicide-Awareness-Prevention-Intervention-and-Postvention-5.27.21.pdf (last visited Mar. 10, 2026).

^[23] Id.

^[24] Id.

^[25] Id.

^[26] Id.

^[27] Id.

^[28] Id.

^[29] Id.

^[30] Children’s Aid Society of Alabama, The Secret Life of Children: Suicidal Ideation and the Need for Informed Intervention, (May 2025), https://childrensaid.org/the-secret-life-of-children-suicidal-ideation-and-the-need-for-informed-intervention/ (last visited Mar. 10, 2026).

^[31] Id.

^[32] The Alabama Youth Suicide Prevention Program (AYSPP),  https://www.alabamaachieves.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/AYSPP_DepartmentofEducation.pdf (last visited Mar. 10, 2026).

^[33] Id.

^[34] Id.

^[35] Id.

^[36] Id.

^[37] Alabama Commission on the Evaluation of Services, Suicide Prevention Programs Program Evaluation, (September 10, 2020), https://evidence.alabama.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Program-Evaluation-of-Suicide-Prevention_Final-SEPT-2020-1.pdf (last visited Mar. 10, 2026).

^[38] Id.

^[39] Id.

^[40] Id.

^[41] Id.

^[42] Id.

^[43] Id.

^[44] Id.

^[45] Id.

^[46] Id.

^[47] Id.

^[48] Id.

^[49] Id.

^[50] Id.

^[51] Id.

^[52] Id.