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Helping Out Our Teens in Schools (HOOTS)

Helping Out Our Teens in Schools (HOOTS) provides on-site integrated health care clinics and tragedy response support to a number of high schools in the Eugene/Springfield area. Each week, teams consisting of a medic (either a nurse or an EMT) and a crisis worker (with years of experience in the mental health field) visit schools to offer walk-in clinics. HOOTS is primarily staffed by and born from the work that the CAHOOTS mobile crisis response program provides the larger community.

From large high schools serving over 1,000 students to smaller charter schools that don’t have enough funding to secure permanent counseling staff, HOOTS helps to bridge the gaps. Our services can take some of the pressure off school staff and provide support to students with short-term counseling, crisis intervention and community referrals. Funded by school districts and grants, the program takes a client-centered, harm reduction approach to counseling. The integrated medical and crisis staffing means services can be creatively focused and cover a wide variety of needs.

HOOTS is coordinated by Hayley Shapiro and staffed by 14 clinicians who arrive at schools with a curated resource binder and a well-stocked medical bag to serve students on a weekly basis. So far, the partnerships between schools and HOOTS have been successful, with program contracts and grant funding in place for next year. HOOTS recognizes and honors the fact that schools are making great efforts to remain grounded and responsive to an increasingly complicated population, one that deserves all the support we can offer.

For schools or staff that are interested in a school clinic, tragedy response support, de-escalation trainings for staff or mental wellness presentations for 7th to 12th graders please reach out via phone or email with your inquiry.

Statement from the HOOTS Team

Written in collaboration by HOOTS team members with support of the White Bird Community Collective The HOOTS (Helping Out Our […]

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HOOTS (Helping Out Our Teens in Schools) Phone Line

UPDATE: As of September 2021, the HOOTS phone line is no longer active due to the return to in-person school […]

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In the News

Willamette High School Pushes to Support Its Students – Eugene Weekly, April 11, 2019

HOOTS: Mobile Mental Health in School Settings – Trauma Informed Oregon, April 5, 2019

Students get mental health help with consistent CAHOOTS visits – Register Guard, December 7, 2018

CAHOOTS Extends Reach To More High Schools Starting This Fall – KLCC, National Public Radio, July 2, 2018