We are very pleased to announce that Boys Town Hotline will launch their national text hotline in January and the PreventionPays platform was chosen (over all other services and providers) as the platform through which they will launch the new resource!
Make sure you visit the Boys Town Website here!
The resource will function as a youth helpline in which youth and their parents and/or caregivers can text/chat with a trained counselor about their crisis and get info about resources and help in their community that assist youth in crisis. Live assistance will be provided by helpline counselors (specially trained in youth-focused help) from computer workstations at Boys Town Hotline in Boys Town, Nebraska, USA. Information such as where to go if they are being abused or if they need emergency food, clothing or shelter will be communicated to youth in need.
The Boys Town text hotline is a community service and will be available to all US residents. The service will be promoted through Boys Town's robust network of affilate agencies, partners and stakeholders with PSAs, signage and handouts (flyers, brochures) through charities that are youth-focused, e.g Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, YMCAs, hostels and youth shelters, youth crisis lines and helplines, and public spaces including libraries, hospitals, and schools. In part, this service is being developed to increase access to public resources among rural populations and disadvantaged youth that may not have access to a computer or the Internet.
The text helpline will augment Boys Town's standard phone-based helpline services that have been operational for the past 50 years.
