Under the Radar: Service Children and Higher Education in England Report
This report addresses a significant gap in the sector’s understanding of Service children and higher education in England examining the present situation in terms of policy, practice and evidence where access to higher education for Service children in England is concerned.
It focuses especially, on the decision by the Office for Students not to include Service children in the first iteration of its Equal Opportunities Risk Register (EORR) launched last year arguing that this decision poses a threat to widening access work with Service Children and the activities of many NEON members. The report includes a series of recommendations directly relevant to the practice of NEON members including asking the Office for Students to include Service Children in the EORR. It also includes examples of leading practice in widening access work with Service children from higher education providers and Uni-Connect partnerships.
Abstract: The U.S. Army’s Ask, Care, Escort (ACE) suicide gatekeeper training has been the annual requirement for all personnel since 2009; however, this training has never been formally evaluated. The present study evaluated three updated versions of ACE: a training for Army leaders (ACE-Suicide Intervention), a training for basic combat trainees (ACE for Basic Combat Training and One Station Unit Training), and a standard training for all personnel (ACE for the Force). Self-report surveys measured pre- to posttraining changes in objective and subjective knowledge and stigma, as well as preparedness, self-efficacy, and likelihood to engage in gatekeeper behaviors. Implementation outcomes, such as training acceptability, suitability, and usability were also assessed. Across these evaluations, participants reported that knowledge and gatekeeper behaviors significantly improved from pre- to posttraining. Implementation metrics revealed a high degree of acceptability and relevance for all three ACE trainings. Overall, the findings of these evaluations suggest important changes in key suicide prevention outcomes following the ACE suite of trainings. Further longitudinal assessment is needed to establish the full effectiveness of gatekeeper interventions in the Army.