Empower your students with Hope Squad.
What is Hope Squad?
Hope Squads are the eyes and ears of your school. They’re students trained to watch for at-risk peers, provide friendship, identify warning signs, and seek help from adults.
Hope Squad works with school advisors to train students identified by their classmates as trustworthy peers to serve as Hope Squad members.
Through evidence-based training modules, Hope Squad members are empowered to seek help and save a life. Hope Squad members are not taught to act as counselors, but rather, are educated on how to recognize signs of suicidal ideation, and how to properly and respectfully report this to an adult.
Why a Hope Squad?
Hope Squad has seen success through its evidence-based peer-to-peer program. Students have identified their schools’ Hope Squads as a source of trust and comfort. In Utah, where Hope Squad began, 34 Hope Squads have been formed in the Provo City School District, and more than 250 students have been referred for help.
Hope Squad aims to:
Enhance the health and safety measures already in place at a school
Educate students on how to recognize warning signs of suicide
Educate students on how to respectfully report potential suicide behavior
Train students how to interact with, watch, and support fellow students/friends who may be struggling
Implement evidence-based strategies through Hope Squad training programs
Reduce suicide attempts
“7 out of 10 young people would tell a friend if they’re thinking of suicide. Research shows peers have a greater impact as protective factors during adolescence than parents.”
What is PEER-TO-PEER TRAINING?
Peer-to-peer training is an integral component of many youth suicide-prevention programs. It trains the students to recognize warning signs in depressed or suicidal peers, and to empower them to report those signs to an adult.
Peers are considered to be the most effective receptors of warning signs because they spend so much time together and are able to recognize when someone is acting differently. Evidence-based research shows that seven out of ten adolescents experiencing depressive or suicidal thoughts will confide in a friend or trusted peer before approaching an adult. The challenge is that rarely will the friend/trusted peer speak to their peers, and then refer their peers to an adult who can get their peer professional help, thus taking the responsibility off the adolescent.
Get Hope squad in your school.
Interested in bringing Hope Squad to your school? Let’s talk about how a Hope Squad in your school can make a lasting impact on the mental, social, and emotional health of students.
For more information on the Hope Squad program, click the button below and fill out the brief form. We’ll be in touch soon.
Meet Our Hope Squad Team
Amy Pool
Senior Thrive Education Manager
Hope Squad Master Trainer
Amy is the primary liaison with the Foundation’s Thrive strategy school partners. She brings more than 30 years of experience in the education system, including classroom teacher, program coordinator, building administrator, campus principal and special education consultant. Amy has an unwavering passion for her students and is especially interested in pursuing a future educational model that puts a renewed emphasis on social and emotional learning.
Lindsey Encinias
Hope Squad Manager
Hope Squad Master Trainer
Lindsey thrives on thoughtful connection through writing and speaking about her personal experiences with mental health conditions. She communicates with purpose and authenticity about losing her father, who died by suicide, when she was a teenager. Inspired by her two young children, Lindsey is passionate about suicide prevention advocacy and mental health wellness conversations beginning in our schools. She believes opening the door of communication with students will change how they view mental health.
VIDEO: What are Hope Squads?
Here’s what Students have to say.
