Why Project Amp is Important

Schools or school-based health centers are an ideal setting for Project Amp. Schools are easily accessible, familiar, and safe to youth, and common barriers like transportation and scheduling challenges are more easily resolved on a school campus. 1 in 3 students relies on schools for their primary source of mental health service.¹ Project Amp sessions can be provided during standing school scheduling times, such as study hall, counseling appointments, or free periods, or before or after school hours. Outreach and promotion of Project Amp can also occur through classes, student or parent events, email and social media, or other relevant communication mechanisms. Project Amp complements other school-based health services and initiatives, including mental health and suicide prevention efforts, multi-tiered systems of support, social-emotional learning, and whole child education models. It fills a critical need for high school students in need of support as the navigate academics and life as an adolescent. When needed due to school closures or other access issues, Project Amp mentors can deliver sessions virtually.

1. Golberstein, E., Wen, H., & Miller, B. F. (2020). Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and mental health for children and adolescents. JAMA Pediatrics, 174(9), 819-820. https://doi.org/1%200.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.1456

Clinics and healthcare settings are optimal locations for identifying and responding to early substance use risk among young people. Project Amp, when paired with a screening tool or otherwise situated within a Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) framework, seamlessly fits into the standard pediatric and primary care workflows. Healthcare settings can pair with community-based organizations, collegiate recovery programs, recovery community organizations, or other youth-serving programs who can hire and supervise Project Amp mentors. The healthcare agency or the partner organizations can host Project Amp sessions in safe, supervised, and comfortable locations.

Project Amp can also be situated within community-based programs such as mentorship programs, drop-in or after-school programs, recovery support programs, faith groups, athletic leagues, libraries, or other organizations. Community-based programs can recruit, hire, and supervise mentors and identify youth participants through community promotion, screening, or partnership with local organizations, schools, or the juvenile justice system.

Learn more about implementing Project Amp in your school, healthcare setting, or community.