Close
About
FAQ
Home
Collections
Login
USC Login
Register
0
Selected
Invert selection
Deselect all
Deselect all
Click here to refresh results
Click here to refresh results
USC
/
Digital Library
/
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
/
Promoting emotional intelligence and resiliency in youth: S.U.P.E.R. peer counseling program ©
(USC Thesis Other)
Promoting emotional intelligence and resiliency in youth: S.U.P.E.R. peer counseling program ©
PDF
Download
Share
Open document
Flip pages
Contact Us
Contact Us
Copy asset link
Request this asset
Transcript (if available)
Content
Running Header: ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 1
Promoting Emotional Intelligence and Resiliency in
Youth: S.U.P.E.R. Peer Counseling Program ©
Doctoral Capstone Project
by
Kathleen Sarmiento
Doctor of Social Work
Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work
University of Southern California
May 2020
`
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 2
Acknowledgments
This capstone project would not have been possible without the love, support, and
encouragement I received from my husband, father, and siblings. The sacrifices my husband has
made, keeping me motivated to continue my education, as well as love and care for our beautiful
children are what made this possible. My father’s constant support and care for my family in
order to complete my doctorate are also what made this possible. This program would not have
been implemented as easily with grace without the help and support from my great friend
Melissa Egan who volunteered a lot of time to help make it happen. To Lorena Bustos, thank you
for your constant support and helping me envision what this program can be. Thank you to the
students that volunteered their time and dedication to helping with the success of this program.
Special dedication to my mother Victoria, I thought of you and pushed through in your
memory. Thank you for always telling me I could do anything. To the beautiful young girl I
witnessed die by suicide, you have forever changed my life and put me on this path to help
youth. To my beloved friend Raihan Dakhil, I also dedicate this to you in your memory, and the
memory of your family Joseph and Omar. Your tragic lives ended too soon, but the memory of
your selfless dedication to your community through social work, volunteer work, and love will
forever be remembered.
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 3
Executive Summary
Ensuring healthy development for youth is one of twelve “Grand Challenges for Social
Work” that focuses on prevention programs to aid child development and mental health. There
are several factors, such as mental health, substance abuse, school issues, sexual activity, and
violence, which have a large impact on their development (Jenson & Hawkins, 2018). These
factors can be recognized as behavioral health problems. Behavioral health problems are defined
as “behaviors that compromise a young person’s mental or physical health and well-being”
(Jenson & Hawkins, 2018, p.18). Studies have shown that behavioral health problems are
preventable with the implementation of programs that promote interventions and include the
schools, families, and the community (Jenson & Hawkins, 2018). Although there has been a lot
of research that supports this, there still is no universal program nationwide that has shown to be
effective to decrease the issues youth are exhibiting. Behavioral health issues in the USA
continue to rise. Social media, increase in anxiety, depression, and cyberbullying have been
suggested as possible long-term effects on students (Scutti, 2017).
Suicide rates are at an all-time high and continue to increase (Chau, Kabuth, & Chau,
2014). Children and adolescents begin to isolate themselves from others and immerse themselves
into social media. Others suggest that the issue is a combination of social media, increased stress
from students being required to achieve more, and adults not perceiving the amount of stress
their child builds up, causing a feeling of not being able to escape (Schimke, Meltzer, & Asmar,
2018). School staff regard students that report mental illness as using it as a crutch to explain
why they cannot complete their work.
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 4
Working within this grand challenge the S.U.P.E.R. (Students Utilizing Peer Educational
Resources) Peers Program©, a peer support program infused with mental health training and
“peer counseling” curriculum aimed at decreasing suicide attempts and deaths as well as
decreasing the stigma around mental illness within the education system, is currently in
development as an innovation to disrupt social norms within the education system and create a
culture of connectedness on school campuses.
Conceptual Framework
Statement of Problem
Healthy development is a nice aspiration, but with the issues many children face, it seems
nearly impossible. There are many mental health issues going on in the school system. Not only
is there pressure for students to succeed educationally, but there are issues such as bullying,
school shootings, lack of social emotional support, physical and psychological trauma. The
effects from these societal pressures and issues are suicidal ideation and suicide, which have
become an epidemic among youth (Sarmiento, 2019). Up to one in five kids in the U.S. show
signs or symptoms of a mental health disorder (Anderson & Cardoza, 2016). Oftentimes, youth
go to school regardless of whether they receive treatment or not. Societal norms are what
continue to hold the stigma regarding mental health in place. Considering this, the stigma can be
viewed as a problem.
Literature and Practice Review of Problem and Innovation
There are several key assumptions to be tested. The initial assumption is that with the
implementation of an innovative program, there will be a decrease in the number of students
reporting self-harm or attempting suicide. Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in youth
between the ages of 15-24 years old (Kochanek et al., 2016). There has been a large increase of
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 5
youth self-reporting anxiety, depression, suicidal and homicidal ideation. Another assumption
that will be tested is that there will be a decrease in stigma placed on mental health within the
education system if there is an innovative solution implemented within the school environment.
Societal norms are what continue to hold the stigma regarding mental health in place. Strong
stigmas keep people from speaking up or speaking out about mental illness. Health care will only
cover a few sessions or allow parents to have access to their child’s information until the age of
12. Society avoids conversations around suicide and mental illness. People will continue to be
silent, internalize, and feel shame around mental illness if the stigmas of mental health and lack
of services are not addressed.
Students continue to feel disconnected among their peers at their school sites. If students
do not feel connected among their peers, they do not seek out help and do not feel they have a
supportive social environment at school (Abu-Rasain & Williams, 1999). There continues to be
an increase of self-reporting suicide attempts, without a program to counter this within the school
systems. Pisani, Wyman, Petrova, Schmeelk-Cone, Goldston, Xia, and Gould (2013) found that
there is a strong correlation between lower likelihood of a suicide attempt and being able to
recover from emotional distress when a student has trusted relationships at home and school, as
well as higher emotional intelligence. Suicidality could be a distinguishing feature among
clinical populations of adolescents with self‐harm that should include risk assessment and
treatment (Bjureberg, Ohlis, Ljotsson, D’Onofrio, Hedman-Lagerlof, Jokinen et al., 2016).
Current data regarding suicide rates among adolescent youth have increased significantly
over the years. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 2016, reports that boys
are more likely than girls to die from suicide. Plemmons, Hall, Doupnik, Gay, Brown,
Browning, et al. (2017) stated the percentage of suicide attempts and ideation has doubled from
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 6
2008 to 2015. Plemmons et al. (2017) also stated that suicides had tripled in girls age 10 through
14 between 1999 and 2014. Of the reported suicides in the 10 to 24 age group, 81% of the deaths
were males and 19% were females (Kochanek, Murphy, Xu, & Tejada-Vera, 2016). Girls,
however, are more likely to report attempting suicide than boys (Kochanek et al., 2016). The
National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) reports that one in five children between the ages of
13-18 have, or will have a serious mental illness (Merikangas, He, Burstein, Swanson,
Avenevoli, Cui, Benjet, Georgiades, & Swendsen, 2010). Suicide is the third leading cause of
death in youth ages 10 – 24, and 90% of those who died by suicide had an underlying mental
illness (Merikangas et al., 2010).
Narrowing down the population, the target population for this problem will specifically
be approximately 2,000 students at Ramona High School in Riverside, CA. The S.U.P.E.R. Peer
Counseling Program© can be promoted as customer-centric with youth aged thirteen to eighteen
being the targeted population which can allow for districts to allocate fixed income towards
servicing this population. Ramona High is eighty percent Hispanic, ten percent White, and four
percent African American (Cisneros, 2018). Eighty-two percent of the students receive or qualify
for free/reduced lunch, or qualify fifteen percent are Academic English Learners, thirty-four
percent are reclassified Academic English Learners, twelve percent are students with disabilities,
point-four percent are in foster care and six percent are homeless (Cisneros, 2018). Absentee
rates have gone up over the past two years by approximately four-point-eight percent, and the
suspension rates have gone up one-point-two percent (Cisneros, 2018). There were 187 suicide
assessments conducted at Ramona High School during the 2017-2018 school year (Riverside
Unified, 2019). This number was showing a significant need for an intervention and prevention
plan to be effectively put in place. This snapshot of this high school shows a small snapshot of
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 7
what the students at this high school are experiencing. With the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Program
implemented to decrease suicide attempts and deaths, it would be ideal to work with eight to ten
youth as S.U.P.E.R. Peers at Ramona High School for two school years to get initial data before
the long-term goal of launching it district-wide at the high school level.
Social Significance
Creating a program in hopes that it is sustainable, functional, and has preventive and
intervention pieces to it, can be difficult at first. There are several factors that need to be
considered as well as functionality. The S.U.P.E.R. Peer Program has several goals that it needs
to address. Measurable goals such as the number of suicide assessments, attendance, and number
of students seen by the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Program. Data will be collected over the 2-year pilot. A
student survey can be sent out through the school’s application to measure students’ self-reports
of suicide attempts and perceived support systems. It will need the education system to look at
the whole student, not just see them as going to school and being able to do classwork, pay
attention, and leave. There are several elements and factors that come in play for each student.
School is where they spend the majority of their waking hours. Due to this, this program allows
for the education system to be more customer-centric, where the focus is on the student’s needs.
It is imperative to have Peer Counseling Programs in schools and this program would
demonstrate the importance of placing mental health clinicians in charge of Peer Counseling
Programs. This program will decrease the stigma around mental health, allow more students to
seek out services without feeling shame, and there would be a decrease in suicide attempts and
completion. S.U.P.E.R. Peers will increase the connectedness on campus, as well as improve the
school culture. This innovative program, which not only infused mental health training with Peer
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 8
Counseling Curriculum, but integrated a piece utilizing experiential training (like learning)
where they can focus on their senses.
This innovative program will include several elements regarding mental health, training
of peer counselors, as well as having a mental health clinician placed at the school site and in
charge of peer counselors servicing the school community. Students that are identified as a risk
while being screened for services will be provided immediate mental health services. Students
needing immediate mental health services will be identified based on the data collection system
that has to be filled out prior to services with the S.U.P.E.R. Peers. Students that are meeting
with a S.U.P.E.R. Peer and suicidal attempts or ideation emerges during the meeting, will already
be trained in the appropriate safety planning and handoff student to the licensed mental health
clinician available on allotted days of meetings with the S.U.P.E.R. Peers on campus. This will
allow students to gain an understanding of how to work with students they will be providing
treatment with that may have a mental illness.
S.U.P.E.R. Peers will be providing student and teacher trainings, parent presentations,
classroom presentations, peer-to-peer support, and hold a Mental Health Awareness Week on
campus. Students that want services are seen for a maximum of 30 minutes up to five times per
semester and then sent back to their classrooms. A timer, as well as resources, games, and tools,
such as stress balls, are placed in the room for students to utilize during their meetings.
S.U.P.E.R. Peer Counselors have been provided with weekly supervision/check-ins from the
licensed mental health clinician as well as monthly after school group meetings. Students will be
trained on confidentiality, mandated reporting, and mental health diagnosis and treatment, in
addition to the Peer Counselor Curriculum, to allow students to gain an understanding of how to
work with students coming into the office with mental illness. The licensed mental health
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 9
clinician will also be provided the appropriate trainings to maintain licensure and provide the
appropriate supervision and trainings to the peers, to keep peers up to date. Since students tend to
report their peer as the person they go to for advice or counseling, this would decrease the stigma
around mental health, allowing more students to seek out services without feeling shame,
creating a decrease in suicide attempts and completion.
Conceptual Framework with Logic Model showing Theory of Change
Implementation refers to the agents’ fidelity to the various elements of an intervention
protocol (Brownson et al., 2017). Some of the Implementation barriers will include whether the
students selected to be a S.U.P.E.R. Peer are truly able to keep confidentiality and if they are
fully trusted by students. This can also become an issue for facilitators such as parents, teachers,
administrative staff, and board members. Due to the large stigma regarding any type of mental
illness and the shaming that occurs in families, there are norms being held in place regarding
anything related to mental health treatment. It is culturally viewed as inappropriate to talk to
others about mental health issues, and people are raised with the belief that mental illness is kept
in the family and not disclosed to anyone else (Abu-Rasain & Williams, 1999).
With the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Program being implemented, it can work against these barriers.
By promoting this program with the support of school staff and administrative staff, it can start
to make a change to the school culture and community surrounding the sites. With their support,
they can refer students to be seen by S.U.P.E.R. Peer Counselors, but if there is no support from
them, this can be a barrier as well. Parents can also be engaged in the introduction of this
program. Showcasing the S.U.P.E.R. Peer’s training as well as talents can help with buy-in.
Psychoeducating these facilitators around the research indicating students often communicate
their problems to their peers rather than to parents, administrators or school counselors can make
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 10
them more aware of what their students are self-reporting (Tanaka & Reid, 1997). Implementing
peer support programs wherein individuals who are of approximately the same age take on a
helping role assisting students who may share related values, experiences and lifestyles.
In order to promote the program to various levels of stakeholders, S.U.P.E.R. Peers will
be providing student and teacher trainings, parent presentations, classroom presentations, peer-
to-peer support, and hold a Mental Health Awareness Week on campus. Training and educating
stakeholders are also a valuable strategy for buy-in among the education system. Board meetings
are held twice a month for Riverside Unified School District. Since it is extremely hard to get
onto the agenda, there is open space for the public to request to discuss any positive or negative
feedback. This was an opportunity that was used by the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Program to allow the
students to voice their thoughts and feelings about the program. This allowed the members of the
board as well as the community to hear about the program and gain a better understanding of the
impact the program can have, and has had so far.
An ideal number of students selected on campus to become trained S.U.P.E.R. Peers is
eight to ten students. Students will be trained on confidentiality, mandated reporting, and mental
health diagnosis and treatment, in addition to the Peer Counselor Curriculum. These students will
then be trained during the summer with certain aspects of the Peer Helper Training and
Curriculum by Ira Sachnoff and the Riverside County Office of Education (Sachnoff, 2018). In
addition to this training, several days focused on discussing mental illness, signs and symptoms,
as well as vignette work is crucial. It is important to implement this program within a school
district that already has licensed clinicians at each school site. This will develop the program,
allow the students to continue to be trained and overseen by licensed clinicians, and allow for the
program to be easily implemented at different sites. By training students in this method and
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 11
including monthly trainings to reinforce skills learned, students should maintain their training
and remain effective when dealing with their peer’s social emotional problems. This helps
towards developing a formal implementation blueprint (Brownson et al., 2017).
Students will also be trained to utilize Cognitive Behavioral worksheets, when working
through thoughts and feelings with students. The Guidance Office staff include several
professionals. Students are placed in the Guidance Office of the High School where the School
Counselors, School Psychologists, and School’s Licensed Mental Health Clinician are housed.
Assigning students as a Teacher’s assistant during a class period places them in the best
opportunity to service their peers and makes them available to incoming students. Students can
offer services two days a week to their peers as scheduled appointments. It is imperative to get
buy in from these staff members to better support the program’s implementation. These students
can be promoted as the first line of defense with crisis situations, which will help alleviate stress
and higher caseloads among all professionals in the guidance office.
When the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Program is implemented throughout the school district, it is
important to continue to provide the clinicians in charge of these programs with ongoing
supervision focusing on this innovation which will help keep fidelity and allow for assistance
with any implementation issues. The S.U.P.E.R. Peer Program will be interwoven into all district
events as volunteers and support staff. There are several community events where these students
can participate and not only gain volunteer hours through the program, but to allow the program
to be promoted within the community and within the district. S.U.P.E.R. Peer Counselor
brochures will be made with program information and resources that will assist in promoting the
program with students, staff, and the community. This would decrease the stigma around mental
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 12
health, allow more students to seek out services without feeling shame, and there would be a
decrease in suicide attempts and completion.
Developing and implementing tools for quality monitoring are an essential strategy
(Brownson et al., 2017). Students receiving services have been mostly seen upon appointment
request through the Google Forms Data Collection sheet, and walk-ins must fill the form out as
well. Students that want services are seen for a maximum of 30 minutes and then sent back to
their classrooms. A timer, as well as resources, games, and tools, such as stress balls, are placed
in the room for students to utilize during their meetings. S.U.P.E.R. Peer Counselors have been
provided with weekly supervision/check-ins from the licensed mental health clinician as well as
monthly after school group meetings.
Logic Model
There are several units of service that will be used to measure throughput and output for
important phases of the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Program. Data collection online regarding student needs
through a pre and post-test will be utilized when measuring the weekly peer-to-peer meetings.
This will allow for a short-term goal of data and statistics to be collected to show effectiveness in
the program. A long-term goal for this output would be a decrease in suicide attempts and deaths
as well as a decrease in suicide assessments on campus.
Throughputs such as small group sessions and workshops by licensed mental health
clinicians will be measured by outputs such as processing, mental health information, and
number of individual caseloads. This can give a short-term goal of improved confidence and
self-efficacy. A long-term goal will be supportive network and increased emotional intelligence.
Another throughput that is best given the nature of the problem of suicide attempts and deaths
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 13
among the target population of Ramona High School students would be the Virtual Reality (VR)
Meditation.
What virtual reality goggles can do, is allow for students that struggle with general
meditation a way to visually escape. Using virtual reality goggles allows students to put on a
device called Oculus over their eyes, and they are then given a simulated experience where they
can select a preferred placed to be. Different places they can select to meditate are the beach,
forest, wilderness, and each can have different environmental factors such as snow, rain,
waterfalls, and much more. Once the user selects a preferred place to meditate, they are guided
through a meditation where they can keep their eyes open and experience meditation. VR
Meditation sessions last no longer than seven minutes and can assist when a student is
experiencing anxiety, stress, or depression. This tool will be offered to students on campus in the
guidance office by S.U.P.E.R. Peers and can measure the number of students utilizing meditation
and coping skills activities. This can increase adaptive coping skills on campus and provide a
safe place for students to relax and practice skills learned. Long-term goal for this would be to
build a community for wellness and resilience.
Change Theory
Change theory can be applied to the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Program because it promotes the
implementation of the program and setting long-term goals. It requires the knowledge and
willingness to succeed. By creating the logic model, it creates a starting point where long-term
and short-term goals can be viewed and allows for the development of measurable outcomes.
This allows for change within a system that can be more institutionalized, such as the education
system.
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 14
Social learning theory can be applied to this program as well. Not only does social
learning theory look at behavior, but it looks at how it is learned observationally through
modeling (McLeod, 2016). With this Peer program, students will be engaging their peers in
conversations, modeling and teaching appropriate behaviors as well as coping skills, and helping
their peers become more equipped to be in society. Social learning theory explains human
behavior in terms of continuous reciprocal interaction between cognitive, behavioral, and
environmental influences (McLeod, 2016). The JED Foundation (2020) discovered that friends
of youth are reported to be the first to recognize signs of an emerging mental illness or crisis and
that approximately 76 percent of young adults age 16-24 years old, turn to a peer in a time of
crisis for support.
Problems of Practice an Innovative Solutions
Proposed Innovation and Its effect on the Grand Challenge
As stated in the executive summary section on page two of this document, the S.U.P.E.R.
Peer Counseling Program © works within the grand challenge of ensuring healthy development
for all youth as a peer support program infused with mental health training to decrease suicide
attempts and deaths as well as decreasing the stigma around mental illness within the education
system.
Views of Key Stakeholders
Internal stakeholders can have a large influence on budget and planning. The school
district and staff will benefit by the Peer Counseling Program empowering students to help each
other, have a decrease in suicidal ideation and bullying, increase campus learning, offer more
effective support systems, and teach adaptive coping skills. School districts will benefit by the
program lowering liability of risk for the district due to students helping empower each other.
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 15
School counselors will have less crisis situations (Cowie, 1999). Overall health of students
should increase (Turner, 1999). Higher trust, closer, and a more caring school community will be
created. Other staff that will benefit include administrative staff by decreasing the number of risk
assessments by students having Peer Counselors. These factors can promote and influence more
support and financial backing of this program on a larger scale within the school district. This
program would be designed for the school district and the educational system. It is currently in
its pilot stage and data and information is continuing to be collected. This can be presented to the
Board of Education for there to be a district-wide Peer Counseling Program. Parents will benefit
by having an awareness of prevention and intervention factors as a regular part of the education
system. There will be a rise in students utilizing meditation, positive coping mechanisms, and a
decrease in hospitalizations.
These stakeholders can strongly influence the finances of the program. If there is strong
support for this program, more funding can be allocated towards it. Not only can the district
allocate money towards it out of their budget, but at the school level, the school sites can each
contribute a small portion of their funding towards supplies, shirts, and conferences or trainings
as needed. Their support can be positive or negative, depending on if the program can get their
buy-in and there is data to show the strong impact and influence the program has on school
campuses. Key internal stakeholders are the S.U.P.E.R. Peers selected. Whether they are truly
able to keep confidentiality and if they are fully trusted by students can have a large impact on
the program and if the program receives any funding. This can also become an issue for
facilitators such as parents, teachers, administrative staff, and board members. Due to immense
stigma regarding any type of mental illness and the shaming that occurs in families, there are
norms being held in place regarding anything related to mental health treatment.
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 16
External Stakeholders include entities outside of the public sector that still affect the
decisions and actions that are to be made. Providing student and teacher trainings, parent
presentations, peer-to-peer support, and resources is essential with this program. In order to
engage the community and allow for this program to be successful, there needs to be a close
connection with outside agencies, funders, and the politics behind the education system. The
problem that would need to be addressed would be exposure to trauma and abuse, social media,
bullying, and parental support while attending school. With the S.U.P.E.R. Peers conducting
different awareness pieces on campus, including Mental Health Awareness Week, this can
promote and strengthen community ties and participation as well as awareness to mental health,
working towards decreasing the stigma around mental illness and open the program up for some
outside finances. Donations, grants, or private investors willing to support this program can
impact the budget planning and allow for more opportunities for expansion.
Evidence and Current Context for Proposed Innovation
See Literature and Practice Review of Problem and Innovation section on page five.
Comparative Assessment of other Opportunities for Innovation
There are a few currently out there, but they are not well known, schools have not
adapted them into the educational system, and there are key elements missing from them.
Temple City, CA has a program called Peer Listeners. The director of this program is an Art
Teacher. Their program is run by a school counselor and a teacher. This program was established
in 1986 by Carmen Rey who was a school counselor. In this program, they train students
approximately two hours a week for an entire year. Students are selected through an interview
process. After being selected, students are trained by a curriculum called “Peer Counselors
Training Course” by Joan Sturkie and Maggie Phillips. In order to request services, students
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 17
must fill out a card and place it in the request box in the guidance office. Students do classroom
presentations and also do a few activities on campus for awareness purposes. Students have Peer
Listeners as a class period in which they are trained and service students. More information is
needed in order to find out Peer Listener’s program scheme.
How Innovation Links to Proposed Logic Model and Theory of Change
As previously discussed on page 12, the innovation of the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Program links
to the proposed logic model and theory of change because it looks to disrupt a system, such as
the education system, in order to create change. The Peer Program has attainable short-term and
long-term goals which can be measured by its outcomes through data collection.
Project Structure and Methodology
Description of Capstone Deliverable/Artifact
The capstone artifact will be a thorough and comprehensive manual on how to implement
the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Counseling Program. This manual will allow for this program to be easily
implemented within the educational system that supports the structure of having a mental health
clinician to train and support students. It includes the program training manual, funding options,
partnerships, as well as sample items such as questionnaires, applications, letters, and much
more. It supports key functionalities needed to support this program within the secondary level
of the education system.
Comparative Market Analysis
Peer Helpers Program is created to allow students to bond, and receive support from their
peers when they feel they need someone on their level to communicate with. They demonstrate
care and concern to both the peer helper and the student they are helping; and they can decrease
student feelings of powerlessness and isolation (Carr, deRosenroll, and Saunders, 1991). Jennifer
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 18
Claire Moore Foundation is a foundation that was created by the parents of a 16-year-old girl that
took her life. It was created in 1998, and focuses on training Peer Coordinators across the nation.
They provide trainings and support for Peer Helper Programs. They hold an Annual National
Peer Program Conference to provide training for current and future Peer Program Coordinators.
The Jennifer Claire Moore Foundation (1998) currently service 49 sites, all within Foley, AL.
The mission for this agency is to provide youth with knowledge, resources, and confidence to
successfully navigate the pressures of day-to-day life issues and excel into adulthood (Jennifer
Claire Moore Foundation, 1998). They provide support for youth through peer helper programs,
peer-to-peer school-based support. Their focus is on bullying prevention, alcohol, drugs, sexual
pressures, and family dynamics with the ultimate goal of suicide prevention (IRS, 2018).
The Jennifer Claire Moore Foundation has partnered with Thriveway to expand and allow
for their training to be utilized nationwide. With their partnership, Thriveway helped expand the
training, curriculum, software and online supporting tool for the Jennifer Claire Moore
Foundation Peer Program. Thriveway created a portal system to allow people utilizing the Peer
Program to access the curriculum as well as collaborate with other Program Coordinators. The
portal has an activity log with data that the peer helper student inputs to track what they are
doing with the students. Students are given resources and are taught how to connect their peers
with staff in order to be referred to outside professionals and services if there are higher social
emotional needs. All of their programs seem to align with their mission and really focuses on
trying to expand this youth-based program.
Reviewing the budget for the Jennifer Claire Moore Foundation on the Guide Star (2019)
website, over time they have increased their revenue, but their expenses have gone up as well. As
things progress and their programs become more engrained within Foley, AL they expand the
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 19
program financially which also makes them have more expenses and staff. The Jennifer Claire
Moore Foundation has an anticipated amount of revenue each year and looking at their IRS Form
990 their expenses increase mainly for salary compensations, their revenue less expenses has
shown that they have spent over budget each year. This agency has decreased the amount of
money they can spend towards growth, but has increased in staff to support their mission of
spreading knowledge and resources to youth. This agency has over-spent each year, but on a
positive note, this amount has been decreased over the years (IRS, 2018). The larger their agency
gets, the more their program can change the lives of youth across the United States.
Project Implementation Methods
Having an implementation of the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Counseling Program© is essential. It
allows for structure, keeps organization, and focus. Implementation stages allow for growth and
expansion. With the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Counseling Program, there was a lot of things that needed
to be initiated and started ahead of time. Key factors such as paperwork, functionality,
interviewing, and training were key elements that had to be done in order to implement the
program. This allows for a guideline of structure and leaves room for any things that may need to
be changed. This two to three-year implementation plan is to allow for time to develop the
program at Ramona High School, possibly create a space for the students and trainings to be
housed, as well as creating a book on protocols for the program so it can be used at other
locations.
After creating the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Program, the program will be launched with the
trainings put in place, as well as the partnerships. This program launched during the 2018-2019
school year, which allowed for the program to have the summer of 2019 to look into expanding
and evaluate what needs to be readjusted or added to the program. Research design for a
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 20
wellness center to house the program at each site is currently in development through the
Riverside Unified School District. This will allow for the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Program to be at two
sites and allow for more qualitative and quantitative data to be collected. With the program
model being piloted at several sites, it can be evaluated if the program is easily implemented and
adjusted for each diverse population at these two sites. For Gantt Chart See Appendix A.
Financial Plans and Staging
Auspices. S.U.P.E.R. Peer Counseling Program © plans to operate as a public sector
within the Riverside Unified School District at one site, Ramona High School. Riverside Unified
School District prioritizes mental health services and functions within the public sector where
there is more buy-in from internal stakeholders as a school district under the Board of Education.
Revenue Strategy. School districts are public, and because of this, the S.U.P.E.R. Peer
Program would be getting funding from the public sector. The California Budget Act of 2018-
2019 illustrates how funding for other one-time appropriations can be utilized. In this break
down, it discusses a one-time funding for suicide prevention training of 1.7 million dollars
(Torlakson, 2018). This funding for the schools could be allocated towards the peer program to
promote mental health and suicide prevention year-long on campus. The California Department
of Education (CDE) has worked towards including social emotional learning within the funding
stream to allocate different resources for students. If this could be awarded towards the
S.U.P.E.R. Peer Counseling Program, there could be some resources brought in to help the
students to be trained more and have a more efficient space to meet with students.
Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP) funding within the school district is
available at school sites to help students to be successful. It allows educational agencies to
provide programs and services to meet the needs of students (Torlakson, 2018). The CDE
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 21
allocates funds to school districts with these plans in place. The funds also get dispersed to
school sites within the district, and the funding is applied for at the site level through an
application. At Ramona High School, the applications are approved or denied by the student
body. During the 2018-2019 school year, transportation to a conference for the S.U.P.E.R. Peers
was approved. Next school year this process will be used again and funding for supplies will be
added as well. The amount that will be requested will be up to $3,000 to pay for supplies,
conference fees, transportation, and team shirts.
Resources needed would include outside agencies for training purposes, mental health
clinicians including licensed and interns. This will allow for more groups, services, awareness
pieces, as well as trainings that can be offered to students, parents, and staff. Data can show how
it has influenced the students regarding self-reporting, as well as the year to follow to see if the
increase in mental health services and resources has caused an increase or decrease in student
risk assessments conducted by school staff. Regarding the capital resources that will be made
available during this phase, it will have several aspects that will be free in the testing phase, and
there will be a very low budget allowed. It will be a staff of two employees running the peer
counseling program. One a licensed mental health clinician, the other a school employee.
Overtime and extra summer hours training the students will be needed. There are several training
opportunities that are free that can be utilized for the students. Some agencies have already
offered their services and support of the program for free. Community agencies and companies
can and have already agreed to support the program. Data collection can be done for free on
Google Forms. The licensed clinician can be trained in a Peer Counseling Training program for a
small price that is paid for by the school district. Mandated Reporter training is free as well to
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 22
allow students to become knowledgeable about what they need to inform the licensed clinician
about.
Project Impact Assessment Methods
When measuring objectives and outcomes, there will be several things utilized in order to
measure and evaluate success of the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Program. As previously discussed, Google
Forms is used for the self-report measures by students and S.U.P.E.R. Peers. There are aspects of
qualitative data and quantitative data that is collected in each form. These measures evaluate
whether students are receiving and utilizing services offered by peers on campus, whether
students are being trained in effective coping skills, and demographics regarding the population
being served. Each Google Form document is accessible by a link or QR-Code, which gives the
students access to scan the questionnaires on their phones instantly, or by computer.
The ‘Super Questionnaire’ is the form that is offered for students to fill out at the
beginning of the school year, throughout the school year, and posted in classrooms with a QR-
Code and link on a flyer. This form asks students about programs they are involved in,
demographics, what things they feel themselves or others suffer from on campus, if they have
had professional counseling, and if they would like to meet with a peer for counseling on
campus.
The ‘Pre-test’ is only utilized during the initial meeting with students. This form allows
the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Counselor the opportunity to go over mandated reporting, what the student
would like to work on, how they are feeling, and their demographics. The ‘Post-test’ is a form
that is filled out by the students after every meeting with a S.U.P.E.R. Peer Counselor. This form
addresses how the student self-reports the session went, what types of skills they learned, as well
as if they felt it was helpful. Lastly, it asks how the student is feeling at the end of their meeting
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 23
with the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Counselor. The ‘Session Feedback Summary’ is a form that is filled out
by the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Counselor at the end of each meeting with a student. This form allows
students to keep a record on how they felt their meeting went, what they can improve on, if they
discussed mandated reporting, and what went well. See S.U.P.E.R. Questionnaire Chart in
Appendix B.
The number of suicide assessments and more in-depth demographic data is tracked
administratively using students’ electronic educational records. This is done to assess the impact
that the program has over time on the number of assessments conducted on campus. It is
predicted that having this program implemented on campus will give students more social
emotional support and a stronger connection to their campus. Each of these questionnaires and
data collections are necessary to track progress and to test if students are self-reporting less
suicide attempts, as well as what the actual records of suicide assessments on campus are. This is
essential to demonstrate the program’s impact on the student population and its effects on the
stigma around mental illness on campus. Not all psychometric work has been done, but these
other projects allow for benchmarks and have results that can be compared to. Scales need more
psychometric work to assess reliability and validity of these scales.
Plan for Monitoring Implementation Processes and Outcome
There are several aspects of the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Program that will continually need to be
assessed. Staff and administrative support for the program will need to be assessed. Currently,
there is strong support by administrative staff, which was prevalent by them utilizing the
S.U.P.E.R. Peer Counselors to conduct peer mediations throughout the school year as a
preventative measure, to try to prevent disciplinary action. Teachers initially were reluctant to
promote or post flyers about the program. There was not much buy-in from teachers and staff,
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 24
until data regarding the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Program was dispersed in an email to all staff at
Ramona High School. Concerns the staff harbor regarding the program as well as their input
about the program will need to be explored more this next 2020-2021 school year.
Data collection for the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Program will be a system created on Google
Forms and the students will have to do a pre-test and a post-test in order to receive the services.
Students will have to fill out the pre-test before being called up to be seen. Data will be tracked
and kept on the Google Forms system through the district assigned google email. Google Forms
and Gmail that is created through Riverside Unified School District is set up to be FERPA
compliant. There are several key assumptions to be tested. There will be a decrease in the
number of students reporting self-harm or attempting suicide over the two-year span. Students
will need to be monitored to make sure they are utilizing peer counseling appropriately. Since
data will be collected through Google Forms, utilizing the district email allows for the data being
tracked to make students log into their district email provided to them in order to fill out the
requested pre-test to request the S.U.P.E.R. Questionnaire. This will allow for data to track how
many times a student is being seen and if another intervention, such as therapy, is needed for this
student based on the student’s self-reports on how they feel peer Counseling services was.
Stakeholder Engagement Plan
Internal stakeholders can have a large influence on budget and planning. The school
district and staff will benefit by the Peer Counselor Program empowering students to help each
other, have a decrease in suicidal ideation and bullying, increase campus learning, offer more
effective support systems, and teach adaptive coping skills. School districts will benefit from the
program lowering liability of risk for the district due to students helping empower each other.
School counselors will have less crisis situations (Cowie, 1999). Overall health of students
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 25
should increase (Turner, 1999). Higher trust, closer, and a more caring school community will be
created. Other staff that will benefit include administrative staff by decreasing the number of risk
assessments by students having Peer Counselors. These factors can promote and influence more
support and financial backing of this program on a larger scale within the school district. This
program would be designed for the school district and the educational system. It is currently in
its pilot stage and data and information is continuing to be collected. This can be presented to the
Board of Education for there to be a district-wide Peer Counseling Program. Parents will benefit
by having an awareness of prevention and intervention factors as a regular part of the education
system. There will be a rise in students utilizing meditation, positive coping mechanisms, and a
decrease in hospitalizations.
These stakeholders can strongly influence the finances of the program. If there is strong
support for this program, more funding can be allocated towards it. Not only can the district
allocate money toward it out of their budget, but at the school level, the school sites can each
contribute a small portion of their funding towards supplies, shirts, and conferences or trainings
as needed. Their support can be positive or negative, depending on if the program can get their
buy-in and there is data to show the strong impact and influence the program has on school
campuses. Key internal stakeholders are the S.U.P.E.R. Peers selected. Whether they are truly
able to keep confidentiality and if they are fully trusted by students can have a large impact on
the program and if the program receives any funding. This can also become an issue for
facilitators such as parents, teachers, administrative staff, and board members. Due to immense
stigma regarding any type of mental illness and the shaming that occurs in families, there are
norms being held in place regarding anything related to mental health treatment.
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 26
External Stakeholders include entities outside of the public sector that still affect the
decisions and actions that are to be made. Providing student and teacher trainings, parent
presentations, peer-to-peer support, and resources is essential with this program. In order to
engage the community and allow for this program to be successful, there needs to be a close
connection with outside agencies, funders, and the politics behind the education system. The
problem that would need to be addressed would be exposure to trauma and abuse, social media,
bullying, and parental support while attending school. With the S.U.P.E.R. Peers conducting
different awareness pieces on campus, including Mental Health Awareness Week, this can
promote and strengthen community ties and participation as well as awareness to mental health,
working towards decreasing the stigma around mental illness and open the program up for some
outside finances. Donations, grants, or private investors willing to support this program can
impact the budget planning and allow for more opportunities for expansion.
Communication Strategies and Products
The initial phases for the 2019-2020 school year will focus on promotion of this program.
This can be done through Ramona High’s Remind application for students to fill out the link if
they would like to request services from a peer, the inclusion of the program’s promotional page
added to student’s planners that the high school gives out to all students on campus to use, as
well as the school’s social media outlets such as Ramona TV, Instagram, and Facebook page.
The next phase would be for the SUPER Peers to respond to student requests for services
with an initial session and offer up to 5 meetings per semester. Students will be conducting pre
and post-tests to students, as well as utilizing the Virtual Reality Goggles for meditation
purposes. The final phase of this program is the development of the curriculum for this program.
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 27
This would allow for this program to be implemented throughout the Riverside Unified School
District at the high school level.
Ethical Considerations
Some ethical considerations to think about regarding this program includes students not
wanting to miss class time and risk falling behind in class to meet with their peers. The barriers
these students struggle with by not participating in this program would include internal struggle
with not coming forward regarding their thoughts of suicide or suicide attempts. This can be
influenced by cultural beliefs around mental health and stigma. As previously discussed, there
can be concerns regarding maintaining confidentiality, as well as dual relationships between Peer
Counselors and their peers. For example, if they are in the same class or sports. Students can be
harmed if the Peer Counselor shares any confidential information that was shared during
meetings with other peers. If students do not feel connected among their peers, they do not seek
out help and do not feel they have a supportive social environment at school (Abu-Rasain &
Williams, 1999). Pisani, Wyman, Petrova, Schmeelk-Cone, Goldston, Xia, and Gould (2013)
found that there is a strong correlation between lower likelihood of a suicide attempt and being
able to recover from emotional distress when a student has trusted relationships at home and
school, as well as higher emotional intelligence.
Conclusions, Actions, and Implications
Summary of Project Plans
Current project plans include creating and maintaining a campaign for the S.U.P.E.R.
Peer Counseling Program. Since confirming that the program will be implemented at other sites
within Riverside Unified in the upcoming 2020-2021 school year, more data will be collected to
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 28
support the program. The S.U.P.E.R. Peer Counseling Program © Manual is expected to be
submitted for publishing by January 2021 and can be promoted from that point on as well.
It is imperative to have Peer Counseling Programs in schools and this program would
demonstrate the importance of placing mental health clinicians in charge of Peer Counseling
Programs. This program will decrease the stigma around mental health, allow more students to
seek out services without feeling shame, and there would be a decrease in suicide attempts and
completion. S.U.P.E.R. Peers will increase the connectedness on campus, as well as improve the
school culture. This innovative program, which not only infused mental health training with peer
counseling curriculum, but integrated a piece utilizing experiential training (like learning) where
they can focus on their senses.
Current Practice of Context for Project Conclusions
With the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Program being implemented, it can work against these
constraints. By promoting this program with the support of school staff and administrative staff,
it can start to make a change to the school culture and community surrounding the sites. With
their support, they can refer students to be seen by S.U.P.E.R. Peer Counselors, but if there is no
support from them, this can be a constraint as well. Parents can also be engaged in the
introduction of this program. Showcasing the S.U.P.E.R. Peer’s training as well as talents can
help with buy-in. Psychoeducating these facilitators around the research indicating students often
communicate their problems to their peers rather than to parents, administrators or school
counselors can make them more aware of what their students are self-reporting (Tanaka & Reid,
1997). Implementing peer support programs wherein individuals who are of approximately the
same age take on a helping role assisting students who may share related values, experiences and
lifestyles.
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 29
Project Implications for Practice and Further Action
Integrating mental health clinicians into the education system allows for better transition
of implementing interventions and preventions on campuses (Burnett-Zeighler & Lyons, 2012).
Certain states have been looking into making it mandated to have one licensed mental health
clinician per one hundred and fifty students. Some colleges in California are starting to do this,
but it is not something that has been part of state law or policy as of yet. If this was a part of the
law or a policy, it would allow for more students to have the opportunity to seek out treatment or
services for free through their school district. It would increase the amount of intervention and
prevention needed to make a change in youth.
If mental health clinicians become a normal part of the education system it could work
towards changing the school community and culture. Parents, teachers, administrative staff, and
students would grow to have a better understanding of warning signs as well as how to cope. It
would be imperative to have Peer Counseling Programs in schools and this program would
demonstrate the importance of placing mental health clinicians in charge of Peer Counseling
Programs. This would decrease the stigma around mental health, allow more students to seek out
services without feeling shame, and there would be a decrease in suicide attempts and
completion. A silent epidemic includes many students. Students continue to suffer in the silence
of their stress, anxiety, and depression. With the implementation of programs like Peer
Counseling Programs, students would be able to become more of a community on campus and be
able to develop better and longer lasting connections as well as relationships (Abu-Rasain &
Williams, 1999). The community will be strengthened and the education system will look at the
whole student when assessing their needs.
Project Limitations
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 30
There are several factors that might impact the S.U.P.E.R. Peer program positively or
negatively. One factor that might have a negative impact on the program would be if the Virtual
Reality Lab that has been temporarily located at Ramona were to be re-located to another site. As
of right now, there is no funding in place to get the Oculus Go Goggles for this program. If the
lab is moved before or during the academic school year, it will make it difficult to keep the
virtual reality meditation in place.
Societal norms are what continue to hold the stigma regarding mental health in place.
Strong stigmas keep people from speaking up or speaking out about mental illness. Considering
this, the stigma can be viewed as a barrier. Up to one in five kids in the U.S. show signs or
symptoms of a mental health disorder (Anderson & Cardoza, 2016). When the problem is
thought about within a classroom of 25 students, five of them may be struggling with depression,
anxiety, or substance abuse (Anderson & Cardoza, 2016). Often times, youth go to school
regardless of whether they receive the treatment or not.
Effectiveness is the impact of an intervention on outcomes, including potential negative
effects, quality of life, and economic outcomes (Brownson et al., 2017). With the implementation
of the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Program, these students are trained in mental illness signs and symptoms,
and are trained by Riverside University Health Systems to prepare students on how to have
discussions with their peers on suicide prevention and intervention to combat this limitation.
Other limitations include that the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Counseling Program © is only at one
school site. Currently, the school district is looking into implementing this program at more high
schools within the district. As previously discussed, if the program is piloted at more than one
site, more data can be collected in order to see if it shows the same results, regardless of different
demographic populations. Although this program has been integrated within the high school,
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 31
parents are not as involved in the program. The parents of the peer counselors are in
communication with the licensed clinician in charge, but parents of students receiving services
are only contacted when a mandated report needs to be made. This limitation can be changed by
allowing peer counselors to help students hold mediations with their parents as well as other
students, depending on the extent of the conversations. This can be beneficial to the buy-in from
parents and community with the S.U.P.E.R. Peer Program.
References
Abu-Rasain, M.H.M., & Williams, D.I. (1999). Peer counseling in Saudi Arabia. Journal of
Adolescence, 22, 493-502. doi: https://doi.org/10.1006/jado.1999.0243
Alicea, S., Pardo, G., Conover, K., Gopalan, G., & McKay, M. (2012). Step-up: Promoting youth
mental health and development in inner-city high schools. Clinical Social Work Journal,
40, 175-186. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10615-011-0344-3
Anderson, M., & Cardoza, K. (2016, August 31). Mental health in schools: A hidden crisis
affecting millions of students, NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/
Arango, A., Opperman, K., Gipson, P., & King, C. (2016). Suicidal ideation and suicide attempts
among youth who report bully victimization, bully perpetration and/or low social
connectedness. Journal of Adolescence, 51, 19-29. doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2016.05.003
Bjureberg, J., Ohlis, A., Ljotsson, B., D’Onofrio, B., Hedman-Lagerlof, E., Jokinen, J., Sahlin,
H., Lichtenstein, P., Cederlof, M., & Hellner, C. (2016). Adolescent self-harm with and
without suicidality: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses of a Swedish regional
register. The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 1, 1-10. doi:
https://doi.org/.1111/jcpp.12967
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 32
Carr, R.A., deRosenroll, D.A., & Saunders, G.A. (1991). Peer Helping: An Information Booklet
for Parents and Professional Helpers. Victoria, B.C.: Peer Resources.
Chau, K., Kabuth, B., & Chau, N. (2014, July 20). Gender and family disparities in suicide
attempts and role of socioeconomic, school, and health-related difficulties in early
adolescence. BioMed Research International, 2014, 1-13. doi:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/314521
Cisneros, V. (2018). The State of the Campus 2018/2019. Retrieved from
http://bit.ly/SOTCRHS1819
Cowie, H. (1999). Peers helping peers: interventions, initiatives, insights. Journal of
Adolescence, 22, 433-436. doi: https://doi.org/10.1006/jado.1999.0237
GuideStar (2019) Jennifer Claire Moore Foundation. Retrieved from
https://www.guidestar.org/profile/63-1203538
Internal Revenue. (2018) Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax. Form 990. Retrieved
from https://pdf.guidestar.org/PDF_Images/2018/631/203/2018-631203538-106b08f3-
9.pdf
Jed Foundation (2020, February). Retrieved from https://www.jedfoundation.org/you-can-seize-
the-awkward/
Jenson, J. M., & Hawkins J.D. (2018). Ensure healthy development for all youth. Grand
Challenges for Social Work and Society (18-25). USA: Oxford University Press. doi:
https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190858988.003.0002
Kochanek, K. D., Murphy, D. L., Xu, J., & Tejada-Vera, B. (2016). Deaths: Final data for 2014.
National Vital Statistics Reports, 65, 1-122. Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr65/nvsr65_04.pdf
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 33
McLeod, D., Jones, R., & Cramer, E. (2015). An Evaluation of a School-based, Peer-facilitated,
Healthy Relationship Program for At-Risk Adolescents. Children & Schools, 37, 108–
116. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/cdv006
McLeod, S. (2016). Bandura social learning theory. Simple Psychology. Retrieved from
www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html
Merikangas, K.R., He, J.P., Burstein, M., Swanson, S.A., Avenevoli, S., Cui, L., Benjet, C.,
Georgiades, K., & Swendsen, J. (2010). Lifetime prevalence of mental disorders in U.S.
adolescents: results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication-Adolescent
Supplement (NCS-A). Journal of American Academy Child Adolescence Psychiatry, 49,
980-989. PMID: 20855043
Pisani, A.R., Wyman, P. A., Petrova, M., Schmeelk-Cone, K., Goldston D. B., Xia, Y., & Gould,
M.S. (2013). Emotion regulation difficulties, youth–adult relationships, and suicide
attempts among high school students in underserved communities. Journal of Youth
Adolescence, 42, 807–820. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9884-2
Plemmons, G., Hall, M., Doupnik, S., Gay, J., Brown, C., Browning, W., Casey, R., Freundlich,
K., Johnson, D. P., Lind, C., Rehm, K., Thomas, S., & Williams D. (2017).
Hospitalization for suicide ideation or attempt: 2008–2015. American Academy of
Pediatrics, 14, 2017-2426. doi: 10.1542/peds.2017-2426
Riverside Unified School District (2019, March 5). RUSD Board Meeting 03-05-2019. Retrieved
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJksjIyN18A
Sarmiento, K. (2019, February 11). Increasing connectedness, reducing suicide risk in local
schools. Press Enterprise. Retrieved from https://www.pe.com/2019/02/11/increasing-
connectedness-reducing-suicide-risk-in-local-schools/
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 34
Schimke, A., Meltzer, E., & Asmar, M. (2018, August 31). Young lives lost: Suicide prevention
efforts expand slowly and cautiously in elementary schools. Chalkbeat. Retrieved from
https://www.chalkbeat.org/posts/co/2018/08/31/young-lives-lost-suicide-prevention-
efforts-expand-slowly-and-cautiously-in-elementary-schools/
Scutti, S. (2017, May). ‘Alarming’ rise in children hospitalized with suicidal thoughts or actions.
CNN. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2017/05/05/health/children-teens-suicide-
study/index.html
Tanaka, G. & Reid, K. (1997). “Peer Helpers: Encouraging Kids to Confide.” Educational
Leadership, 55, 29-31
Torlakson, T. (2018, August 2). California Department of Education. Retrieved from
https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/el/le/yr18ltr0802.asp
Turner, G. (1999). Peer support and young people’s health. Journal of Adolescence, 22, 567-572.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1006/jado.1999.0249
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 35
Appendix A
Figure 1: S.U.P.E.R. Peer Gantt Chart
Figure 2: S.U.P.E.R. Peer Gantt Chart
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 36
Appendix B
Figure 3: S.U.P.E.R. Questionnaire Chart
Name of Form Who Completes
Form
What Form
Measures
S.U.P.E.R.
Questionnaire
Students When students are
requesting to start
meetings with
S.U.P.E.R. Peer
Counselors
Pre-Test Students To be done by
students after initial
meeting with
S.U.P.E.R. Peer
Counselors
Post-Test Students To be done after each
meeting with a
S.U.P.E.R. Peer
Counselors
Session Feedback S.U.P.E.R. Peer
Counselors
To be done after each
meeting with students
ENSURING HEALTHY DEVELOPMENT 37
Abstract (if available)
Linked assets
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
Conceptually similar
PDF
Mental Health First
PDF
From “soul calling” to calling a therapist: meeting the mental health needs of Hmong youth through the integration of spiritual healing, culturally responsive practice and technology
PDF
Acculturation team-based clinical program: pilot program to address acculturative stress and mental health in the Latino community
PDF
Building a trauma-informed community to address adverse childhood experiences
PDF
Unto the least of these homeless ministry: ending homelessness within the co-occurring population
PDF
The road less traveled: personal development for school-aged youth
PDF
Warrior tribe: veteran utilization of aquaponics to fight loneliness
PDF
The Medicine Blanket Project
PDF
Close the health gap: improving patient access to psychiatric treatment through primary care and telepsychiatry integration
PDF
Mental health advocacy and navigation partnerships: the case for a community collaborative approach
PDF
Engaging African American families: assessment, connection, and treatment strategies for lasting change
PDF
Game over concepts, mental-health support for college student-athletes
PDF
Unleashing prevention and reaching the masses with a positive mental wellness museum
PDF
Capstone proposal: utilizing trained medical interpreters: a workshop for medical providers
PDF
Integrative care strategies for older adults experiencing co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders (I-CARE)…
PDF
Rethink Homelessness project
PDF
Operation hope
PDF
Strength-Based Reporting: a trauma-informed practice for mandated reporters, to address behavioral health concerns in children at risk of child welfare involvement
PDF
Commercial sexual exploitation of children: the impact of awareness education in the Los Angeles Unified School District
PDF
Increasing access to mental health counseling for homeless youth: Peer2Peer Counseling Supports
Asset Metadata
Creator
Sarmiento, Kathleen Irene Grealy
(author)
Core Title
Promoting emotional intelligence and resiliency in youth: S.U.P.E.R. peer counseling program ©
School
Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work
Degree
Doctor of Social Work
Degree Program
Social Work
Defense Date
04/17/2020
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
University of Southern California. Libraries
(digital)
Tag
counselor,Mental Health,mental illness,OAI-PMH Harvest,peer,peer helper,Suicide,Training,Youth
Language
English
Contributor
Electronically uploaded by the author
(provenance)
Advisor
Manderscheid, Ron (
committee chair
), Blonshine, Rebekah (
committee member
), Rank, Michael (
committee member
)
Creator Email
kathleen.i.sarmiento@gmail.com,kisarmie@usc.edu
Permanent Link (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-299541
Unique identifier
UC11666142
Identifier
etd-SarmientoK-8479.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-299541 (legacy record id)
Legacy Identifier
etd-SarmientoK-8479.pdf
Dmrecord
299541
Document Type
Capstone project
Rights
Sarmiento, Kathleen Irene Grealy
Type
texts
Source
University of Southern California
(contributing entity),
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
(collection)
Access Conditions
The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...
Repository Name
University of Southern California Digital Library
Repository Location
USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA
Tags
counselor
mental illness
peer
peer helper
Training