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Our Work
What is YouthLine?
YouthLine is a peer-to-peer help, support, and crisis line serving youth ages 10-24 across the United States since 2000. YouthLine is staffed by youth volunteers and young adult interns who undergo extensive training and are supervised by highly skilled clinicians. We are an accredited crisis service by the American Association of Suicidology.
We are one of a small handful of peer-to-peer crisis services across the country, and we know that youth are uniquely suited to support other youth because they know what it is like to be a young person today.
In addition to our help, support, and crisis line, YouthLine is a youth development program offering mentorship, skill- building, and workforce development for our volunteers and interns. We also promote positive youth mental health virtually and in person through social media, awareness-raising, and lessons in middle and high schools to destigmatize mental health and encourage youth to reach out for help when they need it.
We currently have two call centers in Portland and Bend, Oregon, and satellite locations in Portland and Warm Springs, Oregon. We are headquartered in Oregon but serve youth across the country, and even around the world, through our help, support, and crisis line.
Land Acknowledgement
YouthLine would like to acknowledge that the land where our work occurs is situated on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded homelands of multiple Indigenous communities. Our call centers in Portland, OR, are located on the territories of the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Chinook, Tualatin, Kalapuya, and Molalla nations, and our call centers in Central Oregon are located in the territories of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs comprised of the Wana Łama (Warm Springs), Wasq’ú (Wasco) and Northern Paiute people.
YouthLine’s Impact
YouthLine reaches thousands of youth each year through the three components of our program: the help, support, and crisis line; youth development and mentorship; and classroom education and community outreach:
- We support over 25,000 youth annually with the YouthLine.
- We work with upwards of 200 teen and young adult volunteers and interns every year – many of whom go on to careers in behavioral health and all of them have a significant impact on mental wellness among their friends, with their families, and in their schools and communities.
- We interact with thousands of youth in Oregon through classroom mental health lessons and spreading awareness of YouthLine through outreach at community events, resource fairs, youth summits, and conferences, among others.
Developing A Next-Generation Workforce to Navigate Mental Health Challenges
YouthLine volunteers are equipped with workforce and life skills, preparing a new generation to meet the complex needs of employers.
Volunteers on the YouthLine receive extensive training with a curriculum including over 65 hours of classroom training, roleplays, and listening sessions. Youth volunteers are supervised and supported by professional clinicians on every call, text, and chat. YouthLine volunteers are the backbone of the program and receive ongoing mentoring and individualized support during their volunteer tenure. Many YouthLine volunteers become Peer Crisis Intervention Specialists which is an entry into the mental health profession. YouthLine delivers hands-on experience working in mental health – experience that is fun, interesting, and compelling. They learn that they CAN do this challenging and very rewarding work!
YouthLine’s Commitment to those Most Impacted by Suicide
Youth suicide is a crisis in the United States as the second leading cause of death for youth ages 10-24, and we know that certain communities are disproportionately impacted and at higher risk. YouthLine is committed to addressing these disproportionate impacts through our work. We do this by offering our Work Study Program; recruiting a representative volunteer cohort to match the breadth of youth who reach out to our help, support, and crisis line; providing pre-service and continuing education to volunteers, interns, and staff on those communities most impacted by suicide; and seeking support from experts in the field to ensure our policies, procedures, and systems are serving all of the youth who reach out for help. This is a continuing project to which YouthLine remains committed as we continue our work in Oregon and across the US.
YouthLine Partners
YouthLine partners with youth-serving organizations and mental health providers in Portland and Bend, throughout Oregon, and across the United States. We have worked closely with the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs since 2019. We have ongoing research partnerships with faculty and researchers from Columbia University and Johns Hopkins University, among others. We are active members of the Oregon Alliance to Prevent Suicide and work closely with the Oregon Health Authority and the Oregon Department of Education to support suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention in schools and districts in the state. We are always seeking new partnerships and welcome you to reach out to YouthL@linesforlife.org if you would like to partner with us!
YouthLine Funders
YouthLine is a service of Lines for Life, a 501c(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to prevent suicide and substance abuse. YouthLine is primarily supported by private foundations, Oregon Health Authority, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA), Multnomah County, and donations to Lines for Life.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is YouthLine?
The YouthLine has helped support young people, prevent youth suicide, and promote mental health for over 20 years with one purpose: to change culture around mental well-being by enabling teens to give and get help. This program is one of only a few services in the country that provides a peer-to-peer crisis line support for young people. Teen and young adult volunteers and interns receive extensive training to serve as youth peer-to-peer crisis intervention specialists for other youth – and are supervised by clinicians with extensive crisis experience. The peer experience is critical: youth best understand the experience of their peers because they are living the same experience, and they are uniquely situated to provide meaningful, impactful support for teens and young adults in crisis. At YouthLine, no problem is too big or too small, and volunteers are prepared to meet the needs of countless youth who are seeking a supportive, affirming ear to help them through their most challenging moments.
What is YouthLine?
The YouthLine is a national lifeline for young people: a youth peer-to-peer help, support, and crisis intervention service where young people help young people in crisis. On calls, texts, and chats — the YouthLine already reaches thousands of youths every year — across the country in all fifty states. The YouthLine services meet four critical needs around addressing mental health:
- help, support, and crisis intervention via calls, text, chat, and email support,
- youth mentoring and development,
- classroom education and community outreach, and
- workforce training and development for future career advancement.
How does the YouthLine call center work?
Youth reach out for support via call, text, chat, and email on a variety of topics and can talk with a trained peer crisis intervention specialist who can listen, relate, and empathize while discussing healthy coping skills and encouraging help seeking behavior. The YouthLine is answered by youth daily from 4-10pm (PST). Outside of these hours, the phone lines are answered by adult staff from Lines for Life who also answer 988.
How are YouthLine volunteers trained?
YouthLine volunteers are the backbone of the program and receive over 65 hours of pre-service training. This includes evidence-based training for mental health and suicide along with curriculum specific to youth support, roleplays, and youth caller issues. Youth volunteers also receive regular continuing education to ensure they remain prepared to best serve their peers reaching out. Also, youth receive ongoing mentoring and individualized feedback to enhance their skills during their tenure with the program. This youth and workforce development component of YouthLine helps prepare volunteers to serve as Peer Crisis Intervention Specialists. Most importantly, youth gain many soft skills they employ outside of their volunteer role – in classrooms, at home, and in their workplaces.
What do youth reach out for help about?
Youth contact us with anything that may be bothering them. No problem is too big or too small for the YouthLine! Some of the things we talk with youth about are:
- Relationship challenges and family issues
- Feeling depressed or high stress/anxiety
- Thinking about or engaging in self-harm
- Thinking of suicide, or actively suicidal
- Gender identity and sexual orientation
- Abuse
- Bullying
- School
Is YouthLine anonymous?
While we do get information from caller ID, youth who reach out to the YouthLine are not required to give any identifying information. Teen volunteers on the lines are anonymous and use aliases.
Is YouthLine confidential?
YouthLine is confidential to a point. While YouthLine will never share conversations had on the lines, we are mandatory reporters. If a young person is unable to agree to safety for themselves or another person, or if abuse is occurring, YouthLine contacts other agencies to ensure the best support and safety for the young person in crisis. Only supervisors make calls to Child Protective Services and Emergency Medical Services.
Why do volunteers use an alias on the YouthLine?
Volunteers use aliases while on the line to ensure anonymity from potential classmates or peers. The volunteers on YouthLine attend school in the Portland Metro Area and it is important that they can focus on being teens when not in the office.
Will YouthLine follow up with contacts? Why?
Volunteers on the YouthLine offer to have another volunteer check in with their contact to offer ongoing support, ensure the teen followed through with any self-care and safety plans, and to check in about reaching out to their own safety network.
How many contacts does YouthLine receive?
YouthLine fields over 25,000 contacts per year. Youth volunteers answer calls, texts, chats, and emails daily from 4-10pm and have an average of 50-60 contacts per day. All other hours, YouthLine calls are answered by Lines for Life’s adult crisis line volunteers who field an average of 7-9 youth calls per day.
How is YouthLine funded?
YouthLine is a service of Lines for Life, a 501c(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to prevent suicide and substance abuse. YouthLine is primarily supported by private foundations, Oregon Health Authority, SAMSHA, Multnomah County, and donations to Lines for Life.
How do you protect your YouthLine teen volunteers from vicarious trauma?
In the YouthLine training, teen volunteers learn about the importance and practice of self-care and processing. Additionally, our teens engage with the supervisors in the call center and participate in regular check ins after every shift and always after challenging contacts. We know this work can be hard, but mostly we find the work hopeful. Our teens report that they love the work. We support as often as needed and know that the relationship built between volunteers and the youth development team and staff supervisors is a mitigating factor for trauma.
What is the benefit of peer-to-peer support and crisis intervention?
Struggling youth often look to their friends and peers for support (Ilakkuvan, Snyder, & Wiggins, 2011). A trained peer allows for youth to talk with someone who can relate to and normalize what they are experiencing in a different way than an adult might be able to. Youth volunteers know how hard it can be to talk about struggles. The suggestion to reach out for additional support or make a safety plan is often received differently than if it came from an adult.
Mailing Address
5100 S Macadam Ave
Suite 400
Portland, OR 97239