Issue Brief 90: Students Helping Students

The emotional well-being of students is a pressing concern for schools, particularly since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools have increasingly recognized the important connections between behavioral health*, academic functioning, and school climate. Nearly 70% of Connecticut students in 2021 reported that their mental health was “not good” in the past month, and only 25% of these students accessed needed supports and services.¹ Similar national trends have been observed for behavioral health and exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which are linked to higher rates of behavioral health concerns and suicide.^2,3  

In 2022, Connecticut advanced peer support programs as a strategy for supporting student behavioral health by passing Public Act 22-47. The legislation required the Department of Children and Families (DCF), in collaboration with the State Department of Education (SDE), to develop a “peer-to-peer mental health support program” and make it available to schools and youth-serving organizations in the state (Section 34-35). To help the state implement the peer support program, CHDI conducted a review of 20 school-based peer support program models and summarized common elements across these approaches (see Figure 2).⁴ 

This Issue Brief examines peer support models as an innovative strategy schools can use to support student behavioral health and improve school climate within a Comprehensive School Mental Health (CSMH) approach. It also summarizes CHDI’s review of peer support models and includes recommendations for state policymakers and school districts to incorporate and sustain effective peer-led support programs in schools.