Talk of suicide or suicidal gestures must be taken seriously. Whenever you hear talk of suicide or see warning signs of suicidal behavior, provide close adult supervision and notify the assigned worker immediately.
Most people, especially teenagers, do not come out and say that they will try to hurt themselves. Youth will often become more withdrawn from the family and friends and have typical signs of depression (sleeping all the time, refusing to speak much with anyone).
Children who are considering hurting themselves may give additional warning signs:
If there has been a suicide attempt, do not leave the child unattended even for a brief period. Get immediate professional medical attention and then notify the child’s worker.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24 hours a day, seven days per week at 1-800-273-8255 or the emegency hotline number at 988.
If an accident or illness of someone in your family is serious enough that requires a possible move of the child from your home, contact the assigned worker for an emergency plan for the children in your care.
It is a rare occasion that a child dies while in care. It is a traumatic event for the child’s family, the resource family and the assigned worker. If a child dies while in your care (including if the child dies in the hospital), contact the OCS or DJJ office immediately. Unless the child dies in a hospital, you must also contact the local law enforcement authority. Suicide by a child must be handled in the same manner.
Whenever a child in custody dies, the death is usually investigated by the State Child Fatality Review Team, unless the child’s death resulted from a natural disease process, was medically expected and the child was under supervised medical care during the 24 hours before the death. Your local law enforcement agency may become involved to determine the facts and would need to ask questions of all persons, including resource family parents, who had knowledge of the circumstances of the child’s death. An autopsy may be required.
A death is always a difficult event for all who are affected. As a resource family, you have no legal responsibility to pay funeral expenses. You may wish to attend the service and to send flowers or make a donation to a memorial fund for the child. Be aware that some parents may react to the loss of the child by becoming very hostile to agency personnel and resource families because of their feelings of failure, anger and grief. Contact your assigned worker if this situation occurs. Also, talk to your assigned worker about resources to help you and your family with your feelings of grief and sadness. Resource families often become attached to the children in their care, and it is important that you get a chance to talk about your feelings.
Unless parental rights have been terminated, the child’s parents retain the right to plan the funeral service for their child. The assigned worker will advise them and assist them in planning an appropriate service. This would include making them aware of the resource family’s interest in attending or participating in the service. If parental rights have been terminated, or if parents cannot be located or are deceased, the agency will assume the responsibly of planning services and may request your involvement.
The assigned worker or probation officer is responsible to inform the appropriate persons of the death and to initiate plans for the funeral service and procedures. Depending upon the ability and resources of the child’s family or guardian, the Office of Children’s Services or Division of Juvenile Justice will assure that financial arrangements are made for funeral arrangements.
Note: The licensing specialist will also write up a report on the incident to document the event and ensure the foster family receives any support they might need.