Peer Assistance and Leadership (PAL®) 
Welcome
Peer Assistance and Leadership (PAL®) is an award-winning peer helping program providing effective training in helping skills. PAL® combats problems such as violence in schools, drug abuse, teen pregnancy, gang participation, and school dropouts by providing a critical line of defense both at school and in the home. The goal of the program is to tap into the potential of young people to make a difference in their schools and communities.
After careful selection of PAL® candidates by school representatives, the students (known as "PALs") undergo a four- to six-week training period, provided primarily by the previously trained PAL® sponsor. Using a PAL® Teacher's Manual as a guide, sponsors focus on communication skills, group dynamics, self-awareness, decision-making, and problem-solving skills. Upon completion of this phase, the PALs are placed in peer-to-peer situations with other students (known as "PAL-ees") in which they employ the training components in order to develop positive, supportive, and helpful relationships. PAL® empowers students to serve effectively in specific peer-to-peer or general leadership roles.
PAL® began at one high school in Austin in 1980 and has grown into a district-wide, nationally recognized research-based program. In the year 2000, PAL® was recognized by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (C.S.A.P.) as a Promising Program, and in the year 2003 as a Model Program by the Office of Juvenile Justice & Drop-Out Prevention (O.J.J.D.P.). Today, the program has grown to include Elementary and Middle Schools and is active in over 400 schools throughout Texas. Owing to its tremendous success, PAL® has also expanded into seventeen additional states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah and Michigan.
