Photo: YouthLine
While a 2020 state audit found Oregon’s youth mental health system left many children and their families in crisis, Oregon also is home to YouthLine, a confidential teen-to-teen support and crisis system in Portland that lets teens connect via text, chat, email and phone nationally. In 2013, YouthLine received roughly 1,400 contacts, many from in state. But, by 2021, it received almost 25,000 annual contacts from all across the US. “We underestimate the capacity of what young people can do to help other young people. As adults, it’s easy for us to say, they can’t do that. But they can,” says YouthLine director Emily Moser. Volunteers get more than 60 hours of training, and master’s level supervisors are constantly on standby, ready to step in if needed.
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