Despite all efforts to keep children and youth safe and healthy, tragic events happen.  STAR-Center can help to prepare you for such a tragedy in your school.  We believe that good advance planning can reduce the negative impact of a tragedy on youth and those who live and work with them.  Therefore, STAR-Center recommends that school districts, working closely with their community resources, prepare for tragedies by developing policies and procedures that may be activated on very short notice. Each postvention plan should include:

• School board policy authorizing postvention activities.
• Interagency agreements to ensure that resources will be available in the event of a tragedy.
• Communication plans.
• Deployment of key personnel by name and area of responsibility during the postvention period.
• Refresher training for district employees assigned to respond to tragedies.
• Ongoing recruitment and training for new postvention team members.
• Strategies for debriefing the postvention team members, evaluating the postvention, and discussing how to prevent another such tragedy.
• Annual review of postventions and revisions to the plan.

Goals of a postvention

• To support those grieving the loss of a classmate, teacher, or colleague.
• To return the school to its normal routines.
• To identify and assist those at risk for unhealthy behaviors and reactions.
• To refer those who may be at risk for psychiatric disorders.
• To reduce the risk of contagion for those at risk for suicidal behavior.

Rationale for postvention

Postvention in schools is especially important, as students usually develop close relationships with those in their building. It is natural, therefore, for the school family to come together to support one another when a tragedy befalls one of its members.

For more information on postvention, STAR-Center has published a manual called the Postvention Standards Manual.  Click here to order.