Peer Solutions


 

About

PREVENTING THE ROOT CAUSES OF HARM THROUGH YOUTH LED COMMUNITY DRIVEN SOLUTIONS.

Peer Solutions vision: A world where everyone is Safe, and treated Equitably with Respect (SER). This is a world free from harm to self, others, animals, and the planet. Peer Solutions was founded in 1996. Programming is youth led, year-round, open to all identities and abilities, and developed with evidence based strategies across the social ecology. Peer Solutions promotes safety, equity, and respect (SER) while preventing harm to others and/or self before it occurs by cultivating school, family, and community ownership of solutions. By utilizing the ecological model, we prevent sexual, dating, family, gang, gun, and school violence, harassment, bullying, self-injury, suicide, depression, oppression, substance abuse, eating disorders, teen pregnancy, poor school performance, child abuse, homelessness, criminality, early death, disease, and more. Activities are year-round, youth led and developed, intergenerational, open to all identities and abilities, and use evidence based strategies across the social ecology.

Duties - Due to COVID19 all Peer Solutions activities are done virtually through GoToMeeting. The individual will work with primary through secondary level students and will require finger print clearance. This individual will assist with co-facilitating High School lunch meetings/After School Programs, Conducting outreach to school staff, Assisting with our youth podcast "The PeerPod", Planning school activities and outreach, attending virtual community partners training/meetings, and local/national workshops related to youth and ACEs. Interns will also support our monthly virtual Community Coalition where members come together to discuss and implement their vision of safe, healthy and respectful communities.  In addition, this intern will assist with the implementation, scoring, and review of evaluation tools designed to capture the effectiveness of said activities. 

Available Days/Hours -  Monday's, Tuesday's, Wednesday's, Thursday's, 
*Mornings, *Afternoons, some evenings 

The time commitment averages 1-3 hours a week per site.

Activities you may support include:

  1. Weekly virtual after school programming on Wednesday's for K-8 students
  2. Weekly virtual meetings on Tuesday's for Central, South Phoenix, and Tempe middle and high school students
  3. Phone/Virtual meeting outreach to school staff
  4. Assist with recording podcast episodes and promoting podcast 
  5. Monthly virtual coalition meetings on last Thursday of every month
  6. Service projects for communities and families affected by COVID 
  1. Population Served - Elementary-Post Secondary Students, as well as families, schools, and community members in Guadalupe, Phoenix, and Tempe. During the 2018 school year, Peer Solutions served 12,878 youth and 1,163 adults supported by 88 school, community, business, and funding partners. Ethnic breakdown: African American 11%, Asian/Pacific Islander 2%, Anglo/White 14%, Hispanic 68%, Native American 4%, Unknown 1%

Community Need - Arizona ranks last, 50/50 states, for Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) with 44% of Arizona youth experiencing two or more ACEs as compared to 31% nationally. Sadly, 100% of the youth Peer Solutions serve have experienced two or more ACEs. Experiencing harms in childhood impacts a student's ability to learn, relate to others, and manage emotions. This may lead to bullying, substance abuse, violence, and early death. In 2015, 17% of Arizona high school students planned their own suicides. We know 80% of suicide attempts by youth can be attributed to ACEs. Peer Solutions surveyed their youth in April of 2018 to compare their ACEs Scores to the state and nation. The results prove you will be supporting youth facing the greatest need.

Community Impact - In 2015, 30 youth that participated in programming over a 20 year span were interviewed with tools through the Internal Review Board process. The following themes emerged:


Peer Solutions:

Creates safe places,
Cultivates volunteerism,
Provides leadership opportunities,
Helps youth navigate tough times,
Builds empathy and healthy relationships, and
Improves self-esteem and school performance.
(Voices of Youth: A Qualitative Report April 28, 2015 University of New Hampshire.)
Current evaluation:
100% of Peer Solutions’ seniors graduate high school
92% of participants report demonstrating safety, equity, and respect as norms every day
96% of participants report improvement in grades since joining
91% of participants report speaking up more for themselves and others since joining
100% of family agreed their student believed they could make the world a better place as compared to 62% before joining

“It’s been inspiring to work with Peer Solutions at the Capitol to build a more just and equitable society. For decades, this organization has been on the frontlines empowering our youth to be compassionate, caring and thoughtful leaders, transforming countless lives in our community. In an era where our youth are facing unprecedented challenges, now more than ever we need Peer Solutions to mentor and guide this younger generation to reach their fullest potential.” Athena Salman, State Representative, Tempe, Mesa, Phoenix, Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community 12-17-2020

Capacity - 2 interns

* Learn more about us here through videos! Our name was previously STAND & SERVE when these documentaries were made:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwocrrbptL0&feature=emb_titlehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VULPL9mSQlo&feature=emb_title
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Sustainable Development Goals
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45 Impacts | 58 Hours

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