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Every young person deserves the opportunity to be heard and express their feelings in a safe space. Since 1989, Kids Help Phone has offered a critical lifeline of hope, resilience and support to millions of young people in Canada. With over 10,000 young people reaching out every day, Kids Help Phone is Canada’s only 24/7, free, national support service for young people. Kids Help Phone offers a wide range of e-mental health supports including:
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Educational materials and interactive content: Educational articles, tipsheets and interactive content (e.g. games, practices, etc.) relating to various topics that may affect young people, including newcomers, are available on Kids Help Phone’s website.
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Peer support forums: Online community for young people to privately share their experiences and ask questions to connect with other young people.
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Crisis support: A young person can text CONNECT to 686868 to connect with a volunteer crisis responder to get immediate crisis support.
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Professional phone counselling: A young person can call 1-800-668-6868 to connect with a professional counsellor in multiple languages.
Since the launch of Newcomer Initiatives in 2019, Kids Help Phone’s priority has been to build trust and deepen connections with the newcomer community, along with maximizing access to mental health supports. Newcomer Initiatives engaged with young people and newcomer communities to inform its programming. With these learnings and support from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), Kids Help Phone launched its Language Expansion program to overcome language barriers in accessing mental health support. Professional phone counselling is now available in Ukrainian, Russian, Pashto, Dari, Mandarin, and Arabic, along with English and French.
The newcomer population is active in other Kids Help Phone services as well. Kids Help Phone’s Crisis Text Line is a 24/7, free, confidential service that provides immediate support to a young person in distress. Since January 2022, almost 10% of service users that contacted the Crisis Text Line self-identified as newcomers, with 90% of these users finding the conversation helpful.
The needs of newcomers and young people grow and diversify over time. Kids Help Phone hopes to continue responding to these needs and empower young people through the services it offers. Looking ahead, it hopes to expand phone counselling to over 100 languages.
For more information on the Language Expansion Program and accessing professional phone counselling, please visit KidsHelpPhone.ca/MultipleLanguages.
Please reach out to the Engagement Coordinator of Newcomer Initiatives, Prerna Sharma, at Prerna.Sharma@kidshelpphone.ca to chat further.
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