What one Utah student learned in Hope Squad helped her save a friend's life

Nuci’s Space aims to prevent suicide by providing a safe space for people of all ages, particularly youth, to connect and play music. They also offer affordable practice spaces and mental and physical health care services for participants, including affordable counseling.

Raw Art Works is a nonprofit youth development organization that provides art therapy services to 290 youth each week. Studies show art therapy can reduce psychiatric readmission rates for patients, and those who participated in the program say it has been life-changing, teaching them coping skills that supported them into adulthood.

Music therapy is helping teens identify, verbalize and cope with their emotions, and is emerging as a solution to bridge the gap in the national shortage of adolescent mental health professionals. Michigan State University alone has credentialed more than 9,000 music therapists since the degree program emerged in 1944. Studies show that when used in conjunction with medical treatement and traditional talk therapy, music therapy can improve health outcomes and reduce levels of depression and anxiety.

The Friends Advocacy for Mental Health Initiative (FAM) spreads awareness of the importance of mental health. It works to bring services like counseling and support groups to rural communities and schools. The Initiative’s Adolescents Save Haven Club hosts monthly sessions in secondary schools across the country, helping guide youth on their mental health journey, and has since helped over 300 students.

Working on Womanhood (WOW) works to build confidence, self-awareness, community and healthy coping mechanisms among Black and Latina girls in sixth to twelfth grade. WOW offers easily accessible group therapy in schools and is led by Black and Latinx social workers who can provide culturally relevant care to youth in need. WOW serves 350 students in one school district and surveys show that participants are less depressed and anxious and exhibit more self-confidence.

A summer youth-employment program at a local school district led to a student-led forum where Black high school students could open up about their experiences with mental health, racism and stigma. Students who participated in the forum could also join a peer-mentoring program where students worked with middle schoolers to mentor them on how to understand and cope with their feelings.

ACCESS Open Minds connects youth and young adults to mental health support, including therapists, caseworkers and peer navigators to help them get the care they need. One of ACCESS’s main goals is to bridge the gap between the complexities of the mental health care system and the community. By creating these youth wellness hubs and connecting people with the appropriate services, ACCESS has decreased the number of hospitalizations and emergency room visits and increased the number of people getting mental health care.

A rural school is taking a “try everything” approach to helping students cope with mental health struggles, which were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. From providing various forms of therapy, to school-based clinic services and mental health education, school staff are leaning into more of a public health approach to mental health care. The services are also seeing support from parents and guardians as nearly all who were asked for permission to treat their child agreed, compared to just 70% before the pandemic.

Transforming Research into Action to Improve the Lives of Students (TRAILS) provides a group environment for students experiencing mental health issues to discuss their feelings and find a sense of community among their peers facing similar concerns. This school-based program makes care more accessible for students as it brings it directly to the classroom for free. Since beginning in 2013, TRAILS has been implemented in 700 schools throughout the state.

New Hampshire K-12 schools are trying a variety of different initiatives to try to reduce the rates of suicide amongst youth. So far, two school-based prevention programs – one used in New Hampshire and one used in Sweden – have shown evidence of success. Both teach students how to recognize signs of depression and suicide risk and have reduced the rate of suicidal thoughts and attempts.