Hope Squad is an impactful prevention strategy developed in Utah. The peer-to-peer mentor program is closely tied to QPR: Question, Persuade, Refer (offered by our DenverStrong Program) and works with mental health partners to train students to spot warning signs of suicide and refer their classmates to care. The program is informed by regular surveys of participants, as well as industry best practices and local suicide prevention experts. The curriculum has been developed in partnership with a local mental health agency, the University of Utah, and Brigham Young University.
A partnership between Denver Public Schools (DPS) and Denver Public Health and Environment (DDPHE) aims to further increase awareness and skills related to suicide prevention programming and efforts across student, staff, parent, and community audiences within three (3) school communities. This partnership aims to support the coordination of district and city efforts to challenge mental health stigma and increase access to school-based and community resources in the area of suicide prevention through utilization of the Hope Squad program. The primary goals of the Hope Squad Program Denver Pilot program are:
- To coordinate a 3-5-year pilot program for implementation and evaluation of the Hope Squad in three DPS middle schools, where program effectiveness will be monitored and gauged over the course of the implementation phase.
- To foster school-community collaboration efforts.
- To collaborate in the coordination efforts aimed at sustaining the growth of current suicide prevention efforts.
OBJECTIVES: Suicide prevention efforts must reflect a community effort across all relevant stakeholders. The current project looks to supplement current school-based suicide prevention efforts while growing programing efforts at all levels of stakeholder groups within the three (3) selected middle-school communities.