WHAT IS THE MONTANA CAST-S?
The Montana Crisis Action School Toolkit on Suicide (Montana CAST-S 2017) was developed in a collaboration between MAPP and NAMI Montana to support Montana school communities in meeting requirements of Montana state legislative statutes HB381 (2017) and HB374 (2015). 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. The Risk Monitoring Tool in the CAST-S is from the book, Suicide in Schools, by Erbacher, Singer and Poland which is an excellent resource for schools. 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.
WHERE CAN I FIND SUPPORT FOR THE MONTANA CAST-S
Training and support for the CAST-S can be found via the authors Drs. Scott and Donna Poland (spoland@nova.edu) as well as several individuals and organizations that supported and provided input in the development of CAST-S. Please see a list of CAST-S training opportunities below. Below are Montana organizations which are supportive of and committed to helping Montana schools meet the needs of developing their own crisis plans utilizing CAST-S - with the ultimate goal of preventing suicide in our youth:
DPHHS Montana Suicide Prevention Coordinator: Karl Rosston, krosston@mt.gov
Montana OPI: Tracy Moseman, tmoseman@mt.gov and Holly Mook, hmook2@mt.gov
MAPP: Len Lantz, MontanaPediatricPsychiatrists@gmail.com
School Administrators of Montana: Kirk Miller, samkm@sammt.org
NAMI Montana: Matt Kuntz, matt@namimt.org
Citing the CAST-S PDF version: Poland, S., & Poland, D. S. (2017, November). Montana’s CAST-S: Crisis Action School Toolkit on Suicide 2017. Retrieved from https://montanapediatricpsychiatrists.org/cast-s-1
Citing the CAST-S printed version: Poland, S., & Poland, D. S. (2017). Montana’s CAST-S: Crisis Action School Toolkit on Suicide 2017. Charleston: CreateSpace.
WHAT ARE THE NEXT STEPS FOR CAST-S AND HOW CAN I HELP?
The next steps for CAST-S are to provide support and training on the toolkit for all Montana school districts. This is a large goal considering that there are 496 school districts in our state. We need school district leadership (school boards, superintendents and principals) to commit to using the toolkit to develop their own crisis plan and to train their staff and support their students according to their own crisis plan. Our future goal is to raise additional funds for Drs. Scott and Donna Poland to return to Montana to train key leaders in participating school districts so that each district can tailor a crisis plan to meets their needs and their community's needs. Also, our hope is to support each American Indian nation in Montana to develop its own unique CAST-S so that the toolkit is relevant and individualized to the needs and culture of each group.
HOW CAN WE SHARE OUR SUCCESSES IN USING CAST-S?
We would like to hear from you! We encourage schools that are using or have used the CAST-S to update us on their stories and successes.
Please send your stories to any of the following:
NAMI Montana: Matt Kuntz, matt@namimt.org
Montana Suicide Prevention Coordinator: Karl Rosston, krosston@mt.gov
Montana Association of Pediatric Psychiatrists: Len Lantz, MontanaPediatricPsychiatrists@gmail.com
CALENDAR OF CAST-S TRAININGS
4/13/2018 Helena - Montana School Counselor Association Spring Meeting - Radisson Colonial Hotel
7/20/2018 Missoula - 6th Annual Montana Conference on Suicide Prevention - Hilton Garden Inn
8/27/2018 Polson - Polson School District
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