Text for Help for Youth
National Safe Place is pleased to announce the "test" launch of our new initiative, TXT 4 HELP: 69866, a project designed to immediately link youth to services through text messaging.
National Safe Place is launching a new project to help teens connect to a Safe Place location. In communities where there is not a Safe Place program, youth will be given the phone number of the RHY youth shelter. The TXT 4 Help: 69866 project uses technology to quickly offer teens information about the closest location where they can get immediate help and safety. We are happy to include your agency’s information in this initiative and can certainly provide you with any additional information about the project. We anticipate the TXT 4 Help: 69866 project launching in mid October with a national awareness campaign, so it is possible that there might be a slight increase in your call volume.
Here is how it works: Text the word safe and an address (street number and name, city, state) to 69866. You should get a response (usually within 10-15 seconds) that says, “The closest safe place/youth shelter is … site/shelter name, site address, city, state. For immediate help call… your agency’s 24 hour number.” For example, “The closest Safe Place is Bloomington High School South: 1965 S Walnut St. Bloomington, IN. For immediate help call 812.349.2507.”
If a youth is in a location without a Safe Place program, they get the name, address and phone of the nearest Basic Center youth shelter, and if they are beyond a 50 mile radius of either a Safe Place site or Basic Center shelter, they get the error message which says “Reply with the word SAFE followed by your location. Ex. (Safe 123 main st. Miami FL) If we still can’t locate you, dial 800-786-2929 for the national hotline."
Read about the YSB homeless and runaway youth program.
