Lifelines Lanarkshire is multi-agency guidance for working with children and young people who may be at risk for self-harm and suicide.

The aim of Lifelines Lanarkshire is to help keep children and young people safe and to enhance the skills and knowledge base of staff to improve the support they can provide. It does this by providing:

• information for all staff/volunteers who work with children and young people
• assessment and intervention guidance for those who have more enhanced and/or regular contact with children and young people.

Lifelines Lanarkshire is designed to be used by those working with primary and secondary aged school pupils up to 18 years old (or 26 for those who are care experienced).

Lifelines Lanarkshire provides information and advice on:

• understanding suicide and self-harm: definitions, facts, risk and protective factors, and internet/social media influences
• confidentiality, information sharing and child protection
• talking with children and young people about mental health, self-harm and suicide
• the assessment and intervention process
• postvention and recovery
• support and self-care for supporters

It also provides the following practical resources:

• an assessment and intervention flow chart
• a form to record information following a meeting with a child/young person
• checklists for responding when children/young people are at low, medium, high and emergency levels of concern
• example safety plans
• contacts and resources for accessing support and signposting
• self-harm coping and distraction strategies

You can read the full Lifelines Lanarkshire guidance document.

You can also download the following Word documents to work with children and young people who are at risk of self-harm and/or suicide:

• Record of meeting
• Low level of concern checklist
• Medium level of concern checklist
• High level of concern checklist
• Emergency level of concern checklist
• My safety plan
• Self-harm safety plan