Kids Help Phone launches 'Resources Around Me' to connect youth with mental health services

Kids Help Phone has launched "Resources Around Me," Canada's only national digital platform designed to connect young people with over 40,000 trusted mental health and wellbeing programmes and services across the country.

The free tool supports youth, their families, communities, and service providers.

Each service listed undergoes a thorough vetting process by Kids Help Phone's Information and Referral Staff, ensuring efficacy and validity. The tool provides detailed information on eligibility, access, contact details, and available languages, making it easier for youth to find the help they need.

The platform features the verified youth apps database—the first of its kind in Canada. This database includes clinically vetted apps to support the mental health and wellbeing of youth across the nation.

Katherine Hay, President & CEO of Kids Help Phone, stated:

"KHP has been supporting and providing mental health and wellbeing services to youth coast to coast to coast for more than 35 years. We continually strive to ensure young people can find the services that they need, however, whenever, wherever they are. That can be directly with KHP or with other excellent mental health services in their communities. KHP knows that navigation can be a barrier for youth, and that not all services have the right level of clinical oversight – both issues are what Resources Around Me solves for.

"The launch of the KHP Resources Around Me and the authoritative youth apps database helps bridge these gaps, providing young people with accessible and well-researched options when they need them the most. KHP is proud to be a global leader, and the first in Canada to offer innovative tools like this at this scale."

The platform was co-designed with young people and mental health advocates across Canada to ensure it is user-friendly, safe, and empowering. 

Dr. John Torous, MD, MBI, Digital Mental Health, expressed support: 

"Our mindApps.org team is thrilled to partner with Kids Help Phone and support their adaptation and innovation in the digital mental health space around helping youth find apps and make more informed decisions around their use. We look forward to seeing the database make a positive impact across the country."

Since its introduction, "Resources Around Me" has become the third most popular destination on Kids Help Phone's website, following only the "Urgent Help" and "Text About It" pages. Over the past five years, service users accessed resources through the platform nearly 700,000 times.

The Hon. Sylvia Jones, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, highlighted the government's commitment to youth mental health: "Since 2018, our government has increased our investments in children and youth mental health by over 25 per cent, and we are not stopping there. Our government is continuing to take action to support new, innovative services, like Resources Around Me, the first tool of its kind in Canada, to connect even more children, youth, and their families to convenient mental health support services, when and where they need it."

"Resources Around Me is establishing a new benchmark for countries looking to support young people and improve how to navigate mental health services," said Anil Thapliyal, Executive Director at eMental Health International Collaborative (eMHIC). "Kids Help Phone is redefining how charities can practically embrace innovation and technology to find new solutions and evolve to meet the changing needs of youth today."

The platform has been made possible with the support of The Grocery Foundation, the Ontario Ministry of Health, Canada Health Infoway, and RBC Future Launch. 

Shaun McKenna, Executive Director of The Grocery Foundation, commented on the significance of the platform: 

"As proud supporters of Kids Help Phone, today marks another step forward in nourishing the needs of all youth," he said. "We have always championed the well-being of youth and Resources Around Me gives them a way to easily seek help and get support for their emotional and physical needs, no matter where they are or at what time of day."