Suicide Prevention Committee

At Delaware County Community College, we recognize that family, work or other responsibilities can get in the way of a student’s academic progress and that can lead to stress, difficulties, or mental health concerns. At times, these concerns become increasingly hard to navigate and may lead to feelings of distress, thoughts of self-harm, suicidal thoughts, attempts to kill oneself, or death by suicide. As we are a community college with no residential settings, college staffing is not offered 24/7; however, we want to make sure that everyone has access to support during a crisis. In 2019, the College established the Suicide Prevention Committee.

The Suicide Prevention Committee is made up of counselors and administrators from throughout the college. The committee meets regularly throughout the academic year to create programming, training opportunities, and provide educational resources and outreach. We encourage students, faculty, and staff to participate in these events. Our mission is to provide awareness and education surrounding suicide prevention and postvention communication. The Suicide Prevention Committee is welcoming faculty and student membership or involvement to ensure representation from all parts of the college community. Please reach out to the current chairs of the committee, Ryan Jaffe and Jason Stansberry if you are interested.

This committee has created a Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Communication Plan to assist with identifying supports and resources, available to all (students and employees). The plan includes the following:
– Local Resources within the College (hours of operation for all locations)
– Local Resources outside of the College (Delaware, Chester, Montgomery, Philadelphia counties)
– Local Crisis Support contacts
– Local Behavioral Health hospitals
– Local Support groups
– National Resources (Hotline and Crisis Text Line)
– Employee Resources
– Recognizing Warning signs
– How to support/talk with others

View Communication Plan