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Support Resources

YouthLine

YouthLine is a free and confidential 24-hour teen-to-teen crisis, counseling, and referral line for youth.

Let's talk.Call: 877.968.8491Text teen2teen to 839863

About

We are teens and young adults helping youth.

A free 24-hour help, support, and crisis line for youth.
YouthLine is a peer-to-peer youth crisis and support service provided by Lines for Life—a non-profit dedicated to preventing substance abuse and suicide. YouthLine operates a national help, support, and crisis line that provides crisis support and referrals via call, text, and chat. The YouthLine is answered by teen volunteers and young adult interns daily from 4pm-10pm Pacific Time (and by adults at all other times!). Translation services are available upon request. 

YouthLine also operates a peer-supported outreach program to destigmatize mental health challenges, increase awareness for mental health and wellness, and encourage youth to reach out for help. YouthLine’s help, support, and crisis line and outreach programs are supported by our youth development program, which builds skills and confidence around mental health and wellness.

Land Acknowledgement

YouthLine would like to acknowledge that the land where our work occurs is situated on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded homelands of multiple Indigenous communities. Our call centers in Portland, OR, are located on the territories of the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Chinook, Tualatin, Kalapuya, and Molalla nations, and our call centers in Central Oregon are located in the territories of the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs comprised of the Wana Łama (Warm Springs), Wasq’ú (Wasco) and Northern Paiute people.

YouthLine Work Study Program 

Work Study* positions are available for youth 15-24 years old for whom there may be social or financial barriers to participating in volunteer work with YouthLine. Eligible youth who are accepted into the Work Study program receive a stipend of $250 per month for one year. 

Lines for Life seeks to reflect the demographics of the communities we serve, and we hope that the Work Study program will increase opportunities for passionate and dedicated youth from a variety of backgrounds to join our YouthLine volunteer team. 

Work Study participants will develop the following skills through the program: 

  • Mental Health Awareness & Ambassadorship 
  • Behavioral Health Training 
  • Community Collaboration 
  • Professional & Personal Development 

Learn More Here

*The Work Study Program at YouthLine is not connected to any college, university, or federal Work Study Program.

Frequently Asked Questions

The YouthLine has helped support young people, prevent youth suicide, and promote mental health for over 20 years with one purpose: to change culture around mental well-being by enabling teens to give and get help. This program is one of only a few services in the country that provides a peer-to-peer crisis line support for young people. Teen and young adult volunteers and interns receive extensive training to serve as youth peer-to-peer crisis intervention specialists for other youth – and are supervised by clinicians with extensive crisis experience. The peer experience is critical: youth best understand the experience of their peers because they are living the same experience, and they are uniquely situated to provide meaningful, impactful support for teens and young adults in crisis. At YouthLine no problem is too big or too small, and volunteers are prepared to meet the needs of countless youth who are seeking a supportive, affirming ear to help them through their most challenging moments.
The YouthLine is a national lifeline for young people: a youth peer-to-peer help, support, and crisis intervention service where young people help young people in crisis. On calls, texts, and chats -- the YouthLine already reaches thousands of youths every year -- across the country in all fifty states. The YouthLine services meet four critical needs around addressing mental health:
  • help, support, and crisis intervention via calls, text, chat, and email support,
  • youth mentoring and development,
  • classroom education and community outreach, and
  • workforce training and development for future career advancement.
Youth reach out for support via call, text, chat, and email on a variety of topics and can talk with a trained peer crisis intervention specialist who can listen, relate, and empathize while discussing healthy coping skills and encouraging help seeking behavior. The YouthLine is answered by youth daily from 4-10pm (PST). Outside of these hours, the phone lines are answered by adult staff from Lines for Life who also answer 988.
YouthLine volunteers are the backbone of the program and receive over 65 hours of pre-service training. This includes evidence-based training for mental health and suicide along with curriculum specific to youth support, roleplays, and youth caller issues. Youth volunteers also receive regular continuing education to ensure they remain prepared to best serve peers receiving out. Also, youth receive ongoing mentoring and individualized feedback to enhance their skills during their tenure with the program. This youth and workforce development component of YouthLine helps prepare volunteers to serve as Peer Crisis Intervention Specialists. Most importantly, youth gain many soft skills they employ outside of their volunteer role – in classrooms, at home, and in their workplaces.
Youth contact us with anything that may be bothering them. No problem is too big or too small for the YouthLine! Some of the things we talk with youth about are:
  • Relationship challenges and family issues
  • Feeling depressed or high stress/anxiety
  • Thinking about or engaging in self-harm
  • Thinking of suicide, or actively suicidal
  • Gender identity and sexual orientation
  • Abuse
  • Bullying
  • School
While we do get information from caller ID, youth who reach out to the YouthLine are not required to give any identifying information. Teen volunteers on the lines are anonymous and use aliases.
YouthLine is confidential to a point. While YouthLine will never share conversations had on the lines, we are mandatory reporters. If a young person is unable to agree to safety for themselves or another person, or if abuse is occurring, YouthLine contacts other agencies to ensure the best support and safety for the young person in crisis. Only supervisors make calls to Child Protective Services and Emergency Medical Services.
Volunteers use aliases while on the line to ensure anonymity from potential classmates or peers. The volunteers on YouthLine attend school in the Portland Metro Area and it is important that they can focus on being teens when not in the office.
Volunteers on the YouthLine offer to have another volunteer check in with their contact to offer ongoing support, ensure the teen followed through with any self-care and safety plans, and to check in about reaching out to their own safety network.
YouthLine fields over 25,000 contacts per year. Youth volunteers answer calls, texts, chats, and emails daily from 4-10pm and have an average of 50-60 contacts per day. All other hours, YouthLine calls are answered by Lines for Life's adult crisis line volunteers who field an average of 7-9 youth calls per day.
YouthLine is a service of Lines for Life, a 501c(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to prevent suicide and substance abuse. YouthLine is primarily supported by private foundations, Oregon Health Authority, SAMSHA, Multnomah County, and donations to Lines for Life.
In the YouthLine training, teen volunteers learn about the importance and practice of self-care and processing. Additionally, our teens engage with the supervisors in the call center and participate in regular check ins after every shift and always after challenging contacts. We know this work can be hard, but mostly we find the work hopeful. Our teens report that they love the work. We support as often as needed and know that the relationship built between volunteers and the youth development team and staff supervisors is a mitigating factor for trauma.
Struggling youth often look to their friends and peers for support (Ilakkuvan, Snyder, & Wiggins, 2011). A trained peer allows for youth to talk with someone who can relate to and normalize what they are experiencing in a different way than an adult might be able to. Youth volunteers know how hard it can be to talk about struggles. The suggestion to reach out for additional support or make a safety plan is often received differently than if it came from an adult.

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