PAL® Peer Assistance and Leadership began in 1980 as a "peer helping" program, combining "peer assistance" and "peer leadership" strategies originally developed in the late 1970's. Over the last fifteen years, WAP has significantly enhanced and expanded these basic prevention strategies, evolving the PAL® peer helping program from an informal, extra-curricular activity in a single school district, into a formally structured, curriculum-based program, adopted by the Texas Education Agency as an accredited elective course. Because of its reputation for effectiveness and efficiency, over 750 school districts throughout Texas have requested services from PAL® Services WAP, Inc., and WAP has documented substantiated PAL® peer helping programs in over 1000 elementary, middle and high schools in Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington.