What is Crisis Text Line? Crisis Text Line provides free support at

What is Crisis Text Line?

Crisis Text Line provides free support at your fingertips, 24/7. It is a free, confidential service available via text on

mobile devices. It is intended to broaden the options available through current community crisis hotlines. Crisis Text

Line’s goal is to move people from a hot moment to a cool calm.

Message

Any person may need help in coping with a stressful situation. Crisis Text Line believes that everyone who reaches

out for help deserves a human response. No one should feel alone. Crisis Text Line is there any time, day or night,

to help those in need.

How does Crisis Text Line work?

Anyone should feel free to use Crisis Text Line. It serves all ages. An individual may text the keyword “4HOPE” to

741741 and expect a reply from a trained Crisis Counselor within five minutes. The message is confidential,

anonymous and secure. Crisis Text Line does not charge texters if your cell phone plan is with AT&T, T-Mobile,

Sprint or Verizon, and nothing will appear on a phone bill. If your plan is with another carrier, standard messaging

rates apply, and the short code 741741 will appear on your billing statement. An algorithm reviews text for severity

and messages that are determined to be from someone at imminent risk are placed at the top of the queue.

Crisis Text Line in Ohio

The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) has entered in to a contract with the

national Crisis Text Line to provide Ohioans with a state-specific keyword to access its free service. Throughout

Ohio, individuals can text the keyword “4HOPE” to 741741 to be connected to a trained Crisis Counselor. This

keyword was originally chosen by the Stark County Mental Health and Addiction Recovery Board. The Ohio

Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities (OACBHA) is working with OhioMHAS to roll out statewide

promotion of this state-specific keyword.

What can I do to spread Crisis Text Line?

Anyone can share the word about this resource with individuals and community members. School personnel, social

workers, treatment providers and media outlets are especially encouraged to promote information about Crisis Text

Line. OACBHA has developed a resource toolkit of digital, print, and physical materials that can enable you to share

the word with your community. Helping spread the word in your community is incredibly valuable.

How can I volunteer for Crisis Text Line?

Crisis Text Line always welcomes new volunteers to be trained Crisis Counselors. To become a trained Crisis

Counselor, you must be over 18. You will go through a rigorous application process that includes a background

check. This is to ensure that the best quality people are on the other end of a text from someone in a Crisis.

Successful applicants will receive 34 hours of web-based training. You may apply through CrisisTextLine.org. There

are over 2,000 trained Crisis Counselors responding to over 50,000 texters per month, and those numbers are

growing every day. On average, there are 10 active rescues each day by trained Crisis Counselors preventing users

from hurting themselves.

Data

All data is auto-scrubbed for personally identifiable information. NO personal information of texters or Crisis

Counselors is shared. CrisisTrends.org shares aggregated data, revealing general trends. These trends include data

by state, by time of day, and by type of crisis. It is, in essence, the world’s first real time data stream for crises, as

well as the world’s largest mental health data set. Universities or research institutions who pass a very rigorous

application process can apply to access a limited subset of enclave data for learning about mental health in general.

Get Started

There are a number of easy ways to get started promoting Crisis Text Line in your community. Some organizations

have put artwork and information on their social media pages. Some have printed out fliers and put them up in their

communities. Some organizations have reached out to schools in their district. It is important to look at the Crisis

Text Line Communications Guide to read about best practices for using the Crisis Text Line logo and how to

approach promoting the service. If you have questions and/or would like to access the Crisis Text Line Ohio

Resource Toolkit that OACBHA has created, please contact Cody Williams at [email protected]

or at (614)

224-1111. Thank you for your interest in sharing Crisis Text Line throughout Ohio!