Two roles carry a screening day. Everything else is a task somebody does, not a tier somebody holds.
The two roles
The safety planner. Trained by SAFER. Runs the same-day conversation, builds the plan with the student, makes the Elevated Clinical Risk determination, and contacts the adult at home.
They do not have to be a therapist. Most of the people who do this well are school counsellors. By year three of a SAFER partnership, usually that is exactly who is doing it.
The consulting clinician. Licensed, identified by name, and reachable by phone on a screening day. Takes the hard calls, supervises anyone not independently licensed, and is the second voice on a determination nobody should make alone.
One reachable clinician is a precondition of screening, not a nice-to-have. See Module 0.7.
Who may do what
| Task | Who |
|---|---|
| Proctor the screen in a classroom | Any briefed staff member |
| Own the queue | A trained team member, full-time during the block |
| Collect students | The runner |
| Run the same-day conversation | A trained safety planner |
| Build the safety plan | A trained safety planner |
| Make an Elevated Clinical Risk determination | A trained safety planner, with the clinician consulted the same day |
| Decide not to disclose to a particular guardian | The safety planner and the clinician together, documented. See Module 1.3 |
| Supervise a planner who is not independently licensed | The consulting clinician |
| Watch planner wellbeing and send someone home | A named person who is not the queue owner. See Module 12.4 |
Clinical supervision, which is an Oregon requirement and not a SAFER preference
Any staff member who is not independently licensed – QMHAs, LPC Associates, CSWAs, interns, practicum students – must have a supervising QMHP or licensed clinician available on screening day.
For an Elevated Clinical Risk determination specifically:
- Consultation happens the same day, not at next scheduled supervision
- The supervising clinician is identified by name and reachable by phone before screening begins
- QMHA safety plans are reviewed and debriefed by a QMHP, per Oregon Administrative Rule
- Supervision is documented
What a school does when no clinician is available
Escalate outward rather than proceeding alone. Mobile crisis, SAFER on call, or 988.
A form declaring an emergency that nobody present is qualified to act on is worse than an honest escalation.
If your consulting clinician is unreachable on a given day, that is a day not to screen, or a day to have the escalation route written on the wall before the first block.
Critical Reflection. Picture a Tuesday in year three. SAFER is on call rather than in the building. One counsellor, one student at acute risk, one afternoon. Can she make the determination, and does she know who she is calling? If the answer is no, that is the gap, and it is a staffing and training question rather than a paperwork one.
