Press
-
Learn
-
Learn
R U THERE?
I’M HERE. HOW CAN I HELP?
Crisis Text Line powered by Kids Help Phone reaches milestone celebrating one year of service
TORONTO, ON (November 6, 2019) – A year ago today Crisis Text Line powered by Kids Help Phone launched nationally in English and French and remains Canada’s only 24/7 service to conduct conversations exclusively by text. Since launch we have had over 140,000 texting conversations with young people, we are speaking with youth in Canada from coast to coast to coast every single day.
Over the year we have learned a lot from young people. The most discussed topics include: relationships, anxiety, stress and depression. We also know that young people are more likely to discuss suicide and suicide-related issues through our texting service. When it comes to lives impacted, we perform an average of 10 active rescues every single day — an active rescue is helping a young person in a moment of crisis or imminent risk. Think about it. That’s hundreds and hundreds of families and communities across Canada that could have woken up to a very different day. We are saving lives.
“Thank you. Today was a really hard day and I had no one to talk to, until I remembered this service. You talked me out of suicide and now I’m feeling much better. I’m going to try my best to enjoy tonight. People like you are the brightest lights in this world, so helpful and necessary. Thank you so much.” — Crisis Text Line powered by Kids Help Phone Service User
“Research has uncovered that young people would rather write than speak about their problem and 71 per cent of young people prefer a non-verbal form of communication such as texting,” says Katherine Hay, President and CEO, Kids Help Phone. “Crisis Text Line powered by Kids Help Phone is an essential e-mental health solution for young people meeting them on a platform they prefer — we save lives every single day.”
Crisis Text Line powered by Kids Help Phone uses algorithms allowing us to predict the severity of a texter based on machine learning analysis. This means we respond to high-risk texters in under five minutes, even in high volume times. And thanks to our texter triage algorithm, we know that words like “Ibuprofen,” “Tylenol,” and “bridge” are four times more likely to lead to a high-risk conversation than “suicide” or “shooting.”
Crisis Text Line powered by Kids Help Phone is provided to young people by trained, volunteer Crisis Responders who engage in empathetic listening to help bring a texter from a hot moment to a cool calm. Paid, professional Texting Supervisors monitor in real-time the texting platform and are ready to step in should a situation escalate. Currently we have a community of over 1,300 trained Crisis Responders and welcome more people in Canada to join our team. For those interested, please visit: kidshelpphone.ca/text.
The free, 24/7 texting service is accessible immediately to youth anywhere in Canada by texting TALK to 686868 to reach an English-speaking Crisis Responder and TEXTO to 686868 to reach a French-speaking Crisis Responder on any text/SMS enabled cellphone.
Crisis Text Line powered by Kids Help Phone requires no data plan, Internet connection or app. For many young people, (especially in rural and remote communities) lack of privacy, unreliable Internet bandwidth and limited data plans make it difficult for them to communicate by phone, thus the need for reliable, accessible communication.
Crisis Text Line powered by Kids Help Phone is made possible thanks to our founding donor — Canada Health Infoway — and Shail Silver and supporters including: Bell Let’s Talk, BMO Financial Group, Boston Pizza Foundation Future Prospects, Great-West Life, RBC Foundation, The Co-operators Group Limited, TELUS and three anonymous donors.
ABOUT KIDS HELP PHONE
Kids Help Phone is Canada’s only 24/7 national service offering professional counselling, information, referrals and volunteer-led text-based support for young people. Since 1989, Kids Help Phone has offered kids, teens and young adults a critical lifeline of hope and support through our free, anonymous and confidential services — which are available in both English and French. Kids Help Phone is a registered Canadian charity, and we raise the majority of our revenue from individuals, foundations, corporations and community fundraising.
ABOUT CRISIS TEXT LINE
Crisis Text Line provides free, 24/7 support for people in crisis via text. www.crisistextline.org
For more information, or to book an interview, please contact:
Constantina Ellinas
416-988-7933
Lindsey Coulter
647-390-4841
Thanks to our growing community, Kids Help Phone offers free, 24/7 e-mental health services to young people in Canada. Your generosity helps ensure that someone is always there when support is needed for any issue, big or small.
Live Chat is available from midnight until 7:00 a.m. You can always text CONNECT to 686868 to reach a trained volunteer Crisis Responder 24/7.
For a better mobile chatting experience, download our Always There app
Get information about how your thoughts, feelings and behaviours are connected and what you can do to care for your well-being. Learning about mental health can help empower you with the language to communicate how you’re feeling.
Practise with tools, tips and resources to help build your skills and improve your wellness in the way that feels best for you. Learn how to identify your strengths, communicate thoughts and feelings, overcome obstacles and connect with support.
Find out how much you know about specific topics and get resources to learn more.
Reduce stress and have fun at the same time.
Identify who and where your community is to get help when you need it.
Try different tools to express how you’re feeling.
Access tools for safety planning and reporting.
Regain calm and relax with these activities.
Identify how you’re feeling and find resources to support you right now.
Explore lived experiences from other young people across Canada. Learn from real-life youth stories, gain new ideas and ask questions to connect and inspire your own wellness journey.
If you need help right now, you can talk to a trained volunteer crisis responder about anything you're going through. No issue is too big or too small.
If you identify as Indigenous, you can ask to be connected with a First Nations, Inuk or Métis crisis responder (if one’s available) by messaging FIRST NATIONS, INUIT or METISto 686868 or through Facebook Messenger.
Connect with a professional counsellor to better understand what you're going through and help take a step in the direction you want to go.
You can immerse yourself in data about some common conversation topics to get a deeper understanding of mental health in Canada.
Want to learn about mental health, connect for support or get involved? You can check out our tools and resources.