The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline implemented text and chat services in 2019 in order to connect with youth at risk of and experiencing child abuse and neglect. This webinar will give a broad overview of the complex nature of providing information, education, and emotional support through written communication. Key considerations and recommendations for offering text and chat-based services will be shared based on the findings of the 5-year project.

This is the first of a three part webinar series. The second webinar takes a deeper dive in to the quantitative aspect of text, chat based services, including pre, and post survey questions, data collection, and understanding help seeker demographics and needs. It also addresses vicarious trauma and vicarious resilience of the front line worker.

The third webinar provides an overview of the qualitative research that led to an evidence-informed practice model in the setting of a victim service hotline communicating through text and chat modalities. It discusses continuous quality improvement initiatives, implementing a supportive supervision model and implications of advancing technology such as AI.

Audio Description Version

Metadata-only record linking to the original dataset. Open original dataset below.