Ninth International Conference on Health, Wellness & Society

Abstract

Texting help lines are becoming more common for social and healthcare services provision. Young adults are more likely to use phones for texting rather than talking and would be the primary audience this service. Young adulthood is also the most common time for the first experience of intimate partner violence, therefore, intervening at this age is critical. Yet an age-appropriate method of assistance is not widely available from domestic violence (DV) services providers. A texting help line aimed at youth was piloted at an established domestic violence services provider in Northern California after a phone help line for youth was not effective. Staff consulted with local DV youth leaders and a national youth-focused DV prevention program, which operates its own hotline, chatline and text line. These conversations informed the decision to pilot a texting help line for youth to provide a more age-appropriate communications bridge to domestic violence services. We will describe the development and operation of the text line and present evaluation data from the pilot year of operation. Data will include the demographics of text help line users, specific types of domestic violence reported, length of text conversations and types of information provided and the services or referrals recommended. These data will allow domestic violence service providers to understand the demographics and types of domestic violence experiences of a youth population previously unreached by conventional phone help lines, and will allow for more targeted interventions designed for youth victims of domestic violence.