Silent Secrets Business Plan I

Dionna Mitchell Liberty University Silent Secrets Suicide Training and Educational Program

2 Table of Contents Introduction……………………………………………………..…3 Business Concepts………………………………………………..4-5 Objective……………………………………………………………5 Mission……………………………………………………………...5 Management Summary……………………………………………..6 Management Team………………………………………………..6-9 Competitive Strategy………………………………………………8-9 Service Development Plan………………………………………..9-10 Crisis Teams…………………………………………………..…10-11 Parents Education……………………………………………………11 Classroom Presentations………………………………………….11-12 Operations Plan……………………………………………………12-13 Method of Services…………………………………………..………..13 Custom Support……………………………………………….……13-14 Legal Entity………………………………………………………… ..... 14 Organization Plan………………………………………………………15 Governance……………………………………………………………..15 Core Values………………………………………………………….15-18 Personal Plan………………………………………………………….…18 Start-up Cost………………………………………………………….18-19 Financial Planning…………………………………………………….19-20 Role of Balance Sheet…………………………………………………20-21 References……………………………………………………………..22-23 Appendixes ……………………………………………………………24-28

4 Business Concept The Silent Secrets Suicide Training and Education Program (3STEP), a non-profit 501(c) (3) will serve Mississippi as a focus and a channel to prevent suicide throughout the school systems. Silent Secrets will develop a comprehensive Suicide Prevention program in K-12 schools across the State. Silent Secrets will be built upon the “call to action” vision of that will full a range of strategies, starting from prevention and early intervention will be targeted to Mississippi of all ages, from children and youth to adults and older adults. In order to effectively reduce suicides and suicidal behaviors, schools along with the communities need prevention services to promote health and address problems long before they become a crisis. If in the end, a crisis situation does occur a coordinated system of services also needs to be in place. This plan will serve as a blueprint for action at the local and state levels. The plan will be intended to guide the work of policy makers, program managers, providers, funders, and other in bringing the systems together in order to better coordinate their efforts. Along with a course of action to enhance needed prevention and intervention services as well as postvention, or services provided after a suicide or suicide attempt that offer follow-up care for survivors. The plan will include four major dimensions:  Suicide Prevention  Training and Education  Awareness and Advocacy  Research and Resources The core strategies of the plan’s framework will consist of encompass education, clinical and professional organizations, public health, community-based initiatives, media, youth serving organizations, legislation, and the public-at-large. Mississippi school administrators, mental

5 health representatives, public health representatives, and others will be able to provide feedback on the plan and its resources. This method will ensure that the plan and its resources are well- targeted and useful to gatekeepers. National, state and local resources will be provided in order to support local prevention efforts with important tools for suicide prevention and postvention practice. This will allow the plan to be both functional and useful within a wide variety of settings. Objectives Silent Secrets will be established to provide suicide prevention to elementary, middle, and high school student throughout the Hinds County School District. The program will create partnerships with the local and private health agencies Silent Secrets will be implemented in six project schools will include the following components: 1. There will be a development of school-specific suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention practices. 2. There will be a suicide prevention awareness training for all school personnel as well as parents and community members. Gatekeeper training will be provided to school staff. 3. There will be a written memorandum of agreement between the school and local crisis service providers. 4. There will be follow-up steps for school personnel to take after an intervention with students. Mission Silent Secrets’ mission is to save young lives by increasing the awareness and prevention of youth suicide. Management Summary

7 deaths in 2012. Silent Secrets will focus on providing suicide prevention education to the growing number of young people that have attempting or contemplating suicide. Silent Secrets will offer at-risk youth the opportunity to receive help that may change they lives. This program will positioned to be most assessable to young people who want help, but otherwise feel they maybe labeled for asking. The goals of the program are to identify high risk youths who are suicidal and suicidal attempts, increase awareness, provide knowledge about suicidal behaviors of at-risk teens, provide information to students, teachers, and parent on the availability considering mental health resources, and enhance cooping abilities of teenagers. The focus will be slightly different at each level. At the elementary school level, counselors will address issue dealing with emotional development such as bullying by peers, depression, and anxiety. With middle school students, not only will the student be taught how to address stress, depression, anxiety, and suicide prevention, but they will also be taught how to recognize if a friend may be struggling with issues. Once a student has entered in high school, the day-to-day contact with a teacher plays a more of an important role in their lives not only for high-risk students. To the students, the teacher promotes a sense of connectedness. The student has a belief that the teachers and adults in the school systems cares about him or her. When it comes to improving academic achievement and healthy behaviors, connectedness is become an important factor; therefore it can relate to reduce suicidal thoughts and attempts (Resnick & et al., 1997). For the beginning of this program, high school youths suicides will be the focus for the majority of students that will be served by Silent Secrets. Elementary school students will represent a critical group as they continue to progress through school. Children between the ages

8 of five (5) to eleven (11) suicidal attempts close to 30% of the children attend one of the five schools in the Hinds County School District. Children’s Safety Network Percentage Distribution of Completed Suicides by Means among Youths Aged 15 through 19, Mississippi, 2008-2012 Figure 2 Competitive Strategy As an advocate for mental health and public health field, Dionna R. Mitchell is equipped with advanced training and information with about the warnings signs of suicide. Silent Suicide will

10 applying these procedures in every case will ensure student safety as well as eliminating legal difficult should a parent decide to hold the school liable after a complete suicide (Remley, 1991). In order to form local partnerships in this effort, the committee will collaborate with agencies such as the Mississippi State Department of Health, hospitals, Mississippi State Department of Mental Health and National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), but the partnerships will not dictate their path. The next step is to developing this program will be to provide faculty and staff in-service training. All school employees will be train with the same prevention information and in the same manners as the students. It is vital aspect that all faculty and staff know what to do if they approached with a threatening situation or a student in of help. Cappuzzi (2002) in his article entitled, Legal and Ethic Challenges in Suicidal Students , believed it would be unethical not to prepare school faculty and staff in advance of a presentation considering suicide prevention to a student body. In-service training will be conducted for every faculty and staff member in the district including those in transportation, food service, and maintenance departments that may have contact will a student. A chain of command will be established among employees and their department in case a student shows warning signs or suicidal ideation was indicated. For example, a bus driver would notify the transportation director, who would contact the school’s principal; the principal would contact the school counselor, who would in turn evaluate the student to determine if the mental health official will be contacted. Crisis Teams The Suicide Intervention and Prevention Committee will form crisis teams before the students can be trained. The crisis teams will consist of a combination of school counselors,

11 social workers, parents, teachers, school nurses, school psychologists, school administrators along with local mental health providers in the Hinds County area. The purpose of the crisis teams will be: 1) will be a liaison between the counselors and local health agencies concerning the suicide prevention program, and 2) will develop a Crisis Intervention Plan in the event of a school shooting, a completed suicide, a natural disaster, or any other emergency situation that may occur. In the event of an emergency situation may occur local experts will be recruited to provide crisis mental health services. Parents Education Prior to the beginning of the program, parents or legal guardian will be invited to attend an informational seminar. Parents/legal guardian will be informed of the rationale of the training and what the components of a school-wide effort will be. Parents/legal guardian will be introduced to the same information that will be given to the students; also they will be given the opportunity to ask questions, make suggestions, volunteer for activities, or exclude their child from the training altogether. During this time, the parent/legal guardian will be given a form to indicate whether they do or do not give permission for their child to participate in the program. The form must be signed and return to the school in a timely manner in order for the student will be able to participate in the program. Classroom Presentations Through the program the students will be taught the warning signs of suicide, which will include a suicide questionnaire, DVD presentations, and handouts. The format of the program will be in threefold 1) through the Suicide Questionnaire the staff will correct the myths about suicide 2) will provide information on warning signs of depression and 3) will help students identify a trustworthy adult in their lives with whom they may form a connectedness. (See

13 The process of Silent Secrets operations is as following:  Suicide prevention programs will be available 8:00 A.M. – until 5:00 P.M.; starting at the beginning of the school day to the end of the school day.  School personnel will be contact Silent Secrets without a referral.  Presentations will be present to students during health classes. Method of Service Silent Secrets will be set to begin in the fall of 2015-2016 school years. Murray High School will be lead agent school for secondary student and Bailey Middle School will be the lead agent school for elementary and middle school students. This program will establish crisis teams for schools and designs a student curriculum for grades 3-12. The schools and local mental health agencies will provide training for team members in a vast training (20 hours) involving suicide awareness, counseling techniques, intervention methods and resources for help and referral. A one hour training session will be provided each year to all school staff, personal, parents, students and faculty to refresh their basic understanding and awareness of the issue and prevention method. Depending on the grade, the student curriculum will varies, but mainly consists of information about depression and its role in suicidal thoughts, how and where to get help for one's self or a friend, and how to develop coping or problem-solving skills. Riding the Waves will be used for elementary students, Look Listen Link for middle school students and Helping Every Living Person (H.E.L.P) for high school students. Customer Support Parents will be encourage attend informational seminars and establish an open line of communication with child. Silent Secret will provide numbers to a 24 hour hotline to a crisis

14 center for a suicidal youth, as well as email services for parents, who have questions concerning their child’s behavior. All emails will be answered within 24 hours. Silent Secrets’ vision is to be the community leader to educate, guide, and support young people and their families concerning youth suicide. Through prevention programs and gatekeeper training, Silent Suicide will strive to raise awareness to the needs of at-risk students within the school systems. Services will be design to strengthen and increase self-awareness, promote healthy behaviors, and address issues related to improving the quality of youth lives. Legal Entity Silent Secret will be tax-exempt nonprofit organization that will provide suicide awareness for youth (minors). An essential component to a school counselor and prevention program is law of confidentiality. Counselors use confidentiality as a way of gain their clients’ trust (Glosoff & Pate, 2002). Most clients feel their counseling sessions will be kept in confidence with limited exceptions. These types of exceptions to a school counselor can become a balancing act especially when the clients are minors. According to Stone and Isaacs (2003), confidentiality is a widely held ethical standard a variously accorded legal right of clients and responsibility of counselors (p.140). When certain circumstances involving minors, the counselor is obligated to take appropriate action and breach confidentiality (ACA Code of Ethics, 2014). The counselor is required to breach confidentiality if there is imminent danger to the client or others around them. There are limitations to confidentiality and minors especially involving parents and their right to know what is happening with their child. This is the biggest problem school counselors must faces when dealing with minors. Technically, the counselor’s legal obligation ends when parents

16 1) Quality management 2) New school startup 3) Site support 4) Financial and asset management 5) Fund development 6) Advocacy 1 ) Quality management Effectively managing the quality of a suicide prevention program to ensure consistently high prevention results is essential. To do so, Silent Secrets will use a variety of mechanisms and tools to collect and analyze performance data, maintain senior management presence at school sites, provide professional development to staff Silent Secrets-wide, and conscientiously guide 3STEP’s culture. Suicide Prevention Committee, supported by the executive director, will be responsible for setting guidelines, developing management systems, and evaluating quality at all of the schools. The staff and faculty will be accountable for maintaining quality at all schools in their area, providing professional development along with their principals, and for upholding the program’s culture. 2) New school program start up By definition, growth for Silent Secrets will requires starting new schools prevention programs. The school start-up process will include 1) building relationships with larger districts, the community, and key local agencies; 2) initializing systems and operations which will include procedures and protocols for the school; and 3) building an awareness school community. This process will involves the executive director and program coordinator to develop relationships,

17 Steering program committee and sub-committee will establish systems and provide training, and work along with the principals to build the school community . 3) Site support Unlike profit making programs, Silent Secrets will benefit from being part of a non-profit organization. The home office and leading agent school will provide support in curriculum, instruction, assessment, finance, human resources, legal, and operations. The execution director and leading agent staff (program coordinator) are functional experts, who provide support to the schools in their particular area of expertise. For example, the director will supports principals in budget management, and the coordinator will supports teachers in using student circumlunar to tailor student learning plans. 4) Financial and asset management The business of providing a suicide prevention program can be extremely capital-intensive. Financial and asset management includes developing and financing facilities, managing creating and monitoring budgets, managing accounts payable and receivable, and financial reporting. The finance team is responsible for this core process. 5) Fund Development Grants and gifts are required cover Silent Secrets’ costs of growth. Fund development activities include managing investor relations, identifying charitable and governmental sources of funding, and administering grants received. In the phrase one of the project, the executive director will be responsible for this core process. 6) Advocacy Effective advocacy creates a safer environment for youths in schools; it is also fundamental to

19 Professional fees (training) Licensures and Permits Research and Development Supplies Other Total Start-Up Expense Start-Up Assets Needed Cash Balance on Start Date Other Short-term Assets Total Short-term Assets Long-term Total Assets Total Requirements $ 500 $ 250 $ 1,000 $ 2,000 $ 5,000 $32,000 $ 5,000 $ 0 $ 5,000 $ 0 $ 5,000 $ 27,000 Financial Planning Pro-forma income statement The pro forma income statement for Silent Secrets is a three year projection that accounts for a ten percent increase in gross sales (funding) each of the three years. The projections for Silent Secrets show that the estimated break-even point should occur in 2016 when the net sales equal $305,926, gross profit equal $298,426 and total operating expenses equal $30,950. In 2017, the break-even point should be projected to be $359,018, $351,518, and $31,336 respectively. REVENUES 2015 2016 2017 Gross Sales (Funding) $ 267,396 $305,926 $359,018 Less sales and returns and allowances $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Net Sales $267,396 $305,926 $359,018 Total Cost of Sales Gross Profit $259,896 $298,426 $351,518

20 Expenses Advertising $1500 $ 1500 $ 1500 Stationery, etc. $1500 $ 1500 $ 1500 Brochures & Printing $5000 $ 2500 $ 1250 Consultants $15,000 $16,500 $18,150 Insurance $ 250 $ 275 $ 303 Professional fees (training) $ 500 $ 500 $ 500 Licensures and Permits $ 250 $ 275 $ 303 Research and Development $ 1,000 $ 1,100 $ 1,210 Supplies $ 2,000 $ 1,800 $ 1620 Other $ 5,000 $ 5,000 $5,000 Total Expenses $32,000 $30,950 $ 31,336 Net Profit (Loss) $227,896 $267,476 $320,182 Role of the Balance Sheet Silent Secrets will build funding support from businesses and private donors in the community at an aggressive rate of growth.  Yet it will take five years before funding from these sources becomes strong enough to expand the program. The primary expenditures for the program are for the training for staff and the program materials for the youth.  Pro forma Balance Sheet with plugged figures: Asset Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Current Assets Cash (Grants, Donations, & etc.) $112, 783 $168,091 $243,979 Other Assets $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS $ 112, 783 $168,091 $243,979 Long-term Assets Long-term Assets $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 Accumulated Depreciation $ 0 $ 0 $ 0 TOTAL LONG ASSETS $ 0 $ 0 $ 0