Texting with a trained Crisis Counselor is free and anonymous. Individuals experiencing a mental health crisis can text 741741 to get connected with a volunteer Crisis Counselor.
Crisis text lines can help people who are without access to traditional mental health resources or cannot afford a therapist. However, they can also lead to misunderstandings between callers and operators.
Dedicated Volunteers
The volunteers who work for Crisis Text Line are naturally empathetic and committed to growing as counselors. Whether it’s helping someone through a break up, surviving domestic abuse or a suicide attempt, the work is emotionally challenging and draining at times.
Volunteers must complete training and consent to a background check before they begin their first shifts. They’re expected to volunteer two 2-hour blocks per week. After the training, volunteers log in to their accounts on the platform and sign up for shifts that fit into their schedules.
The team at Crisis Text Line knew that they needed a better way to connect with their 20,000 volunteer Crisis Counselors and ensure that their data was safe from hackers. So they partnered with Okta to make sure their selfless counselors could access the platform seamlessly, wherever and whenever they wanted.
A Community of Support
Crisis Text Line is a non-profit organization that provides free, high quality, 24/7 text-based mental health and suicide prevention support and crisis intervention for people from all walks of life. Its trained volunteer Crisis Counselors bring texters from a hot moment to a cool calm through empathy and active listening. They can discuss anything, from a financial issue or relationship problem to thoughts of self-harm or substance abuse.
Kids Help Phone is Canada’s only free, bilingual e-mental health service for youth, offering children and teens a safe space to express their feelings and find healthy coping mechanisms. Founded in 1989, Kids Help Phone helps children and their families navigate the difficulties of life through a confidential and non-judgmental listening and support service by phone or live chat online.
When you’re a nonprofit that’s literally saving lives, it’s essential to have reliable, automated analytics dashboards that are easy to manage and fit into an existing data culture. Whole Whale set up Google Analytics and Tag Manager so that Crisis Text Line could quickly view key performance indicators and identify opportunities for growth.
A Strong Sense of Purpose
When someone calls or texts into a crisis line, they’ll talk with a trained Crisis Counselor who can listen without judgment and help them work through their situation. This can mean connecting them to local resources, de-escalating the crisis, or even getting emergency services involved.
It’s this strong sense of purpose that keeps Crisis Text Line volunteers engaged over the long term. Katelyn, the Director of Community at Crisis Text Line, is passionate about creating opportunities for volunteer growth and connection. When she needed a new platform to support this effort, Higher Logic Vanilla was an obvious choice given its versatility in customization and integrations. At the same time, Katelyn tasked us with building a community space that would connect new and existing volunteers earlier in the process – providing an experience that’s both connected and supportive from the start. It’s an approach that’s proven to have immense impact. More on that, below.
A Strong Foundation
When someone texts 741741, they connect with a Crisis Counselor who provides free, 24/7 support. The organization reaches those who aren’t comfortable making a phone call, as well as communities that often lack mental health resources.
Volunteer Crisis Counselors use active listening, de-escalation skills and safety planning to help people move from their “hot moment” to a cooler place. They provide empathy, compassion and nonjudgmental emotional support to help people find healthy coping mechanisms.
Busy schedules, work and family can all add up to feeling overwhelmed. Text FRONTLINE to 741-741 to talk with a trained Crisis Counselor about any concerns you have during the coronavirus pandemic.
We worked with Crisis Text Line to set up their Google Analytics to track key performance indicators for would-be texters and volunteers. This automated GA dashboard fit right into the org’s existing data culture, and allowed them to act on actionable, measurable, time-bound metrics. Ultimately, this helped them meet their goal of saving lives.