Act 71 - Suicide Awareness and Prevention

On June 26, 2014, Act 71 was signed into law in Pennsylvania. This law, which added section 1526 of the School Code, 24 PS § 15-1526, specifically requires school entities to: (1) adopt a youth suicide awareness and prevention policy; and (2) provide ongoing professional development in youth suicide awareness and prevention for professional educators in building serving students in grades 6-12. Additionally, section 1526 specifically permits school entities to incorporate curriculum on this topic into their instructional programs pursuant to their youth suicide awareness and prevention polices.

Act 71 of 2014 also added section 1527 of the School Code, 24 PS § 15-1527. Section 1527 permits school entities to provide age-appropriate instruction regarding child exploitation for students in grades K-8. If a school entity provides this instruction to its students, the school entity must provide professional development related to child exploitation awareness to those educators assigned to teach courses into which child exploitation awareness education has been incorporated.