Initiative to present 24/7 access to critical mental health resources directly inside platform used by many K-12 students in Canada
RICHMOND HILL, ONTARIO (October 17, 2024) – Kids Help Phone (KHP), Canada’s only 24/7 e-mental health service for youth, and Edsby, an innovative K-12 education software company, have formed a strategic partnership aimed at integrating KHP’s extensive mental health resources into Edsby’s platform when used by Canadian education organizations. The collaboration will provide vital support to school-age students, educators, and parents, enhancing mental health awareness and assistance within educational communities.
Kids Help Phone is the only free, 24/7 national, multi-lingual, e-mental health service for all youth in Canada. Since 1989 KHP has been a cornerstone of youth mental health, giving millions of youth a safe, trusted space to Feel Out Loud over the phone, through text, or in self-directed supports for any moment of crisis or need.
Edsby’s innovative social-style communication and collaboration system is used by hundreds of thousands of students, parents and educators daily across Canada. By making KHP’s resources available inside Edsby, these users will be able to easily access and implement crucial mental health support tools.
“At KHP we innovate and evolve at the pace of youth.” said Katherine Hay, President & CEO of Kids Help Phone. “We offer a space that’s judgment free, and for any young person – however they identify – anywhere in Canada to let their feelings out. This partnership with Edsby will make it easier for schools to integrate mental health support into their everyday environments, ensuring that young people have the help they need readily available in the spaces where they may need it most.”
“At Edsby, we are committed to enhancing the educational experience by providing tools that support both learning and well-being,” said John Myers, CEO of Edsby. “Partnering with Kids Help Phone enables us to extend our platform’s value even further, making vital mental health resources easily available that can make a significant difference in the lives of students and educators in the platform they use every day.”
The partnership will provide Canadian territories, provinces, school districts and individual schools using Edsby with access to a variety of KHP resources and 24/7 services. The partnership will deliver KHP resources through Edsby news posts, launchpad links, internal staff support groups with KHP Counsellors as optional moderators, and live learning sessions for organizations’ staff.
Organizations interested in these offerings can contact their Edsby representative to enroll in the program at no charge.
About Kids Help Phone
Kids Help Phone is Canada’s only 24/7 national, e-mental health service offering free, confidential, multi-lingual support to young people. As the country’s virtual care expert for 35 years, we give millions of youth a safe, trusted space to Feel Out Loud over the phone, through text, or in self-directed supports for any moment of crisis or need. The Feel Out Loud campaign is the largest movement for youth mental health in Canada’s history – it will raise $300 million to unlock hope for young people to thrive in their worlds. Kids Help Phone gratefully relies on the generosity of donors, volunteers, stakeholder partners, corporate partners and governments to fuel and fund our programs. Learn more at KidsHelpPhone.ca.
About Edsby
The unique needs of K-12 education are hard to meet with conventional technologies. Edsby’s innovative software systems have been putting the connections between people, not just documents, at the center of K-12 worldwide since 2010. Edsby fosters rich communication and data exchanges between students, teachers, families and other education stakeholders to drive K-12 student success. Edsby has received more than 80 industry awards and distinctions. Learn more at www.edsby.com
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