Warren Township rolls out Text-A-Tip program

Warren Township is rolling out the community LEAD's 24/7 anonymous Text-A-Tip program.

The program, developed by the Lake Forest organization, has expanded throughout Lake and McHenry counties.

Text-A-Tip provides a 24/7 anonymous text-communication system to youth needing immediate mental health assistance for themselves or a friend. Members of the community can send a text message to a dedicated number and receive an immediate response from a licensed clinician while remaining completely anonymous.

The Text-A-Tip program is available to youth in all of Lake County, however, the individual communities are responsible for the public awareness and education about the service. Healthy Communities Healthy Youth of Warren Township-Gurnee is an organization coordinating a public campaign during the week of April 24.

During that and following weeks, Warren Township High School District 121, Woodland Elementary District 50 and Gurnee Elementary District 56 will educate students in grades 6-12 about the Text-A-Tip line.

"As a community, we've seen the tragic impact of teen suicide and how youth struggle with the stigma of seeking help," said Adam Krieger, president of Healthy Communities Healthy Youth, Warren Township-Gurnee.

"While counseling services may fill a need for some teens, often those at highest risk require something more easily accessible - and a text line is just that service."

"Whether struggling with depression, peer pressure, or drug and alcohol abuse, more than 10,000 students in Warren Township can now reach out for help anonymously using their preferred method of communication - text messaging," said Andy Duran, executive director of LEAD.

"The anonymity that Text-A-Tip provides makes it a comfortable place for students to share and provides a safe channel for voicing concerns about themselves and others."

Each community receives a unique ID that routes messages, in real-time, to a local on-call response team. All messages are sent through an off-site cloaking server that keeps the communication completely anonymous.

Warren Township students can text LAKECO with their message to 274637 and they will receive a response within minutes.

The Response Team for Warren Township consists of licensed/certified mental health professionals from Barrington Behavioral Health & Wellness, who are on-call 24/7 to respond to messages. On-call clinicians are responsible for responding appropriately to each communication and for following-up whenever necessary. In the case of a life-threatening condition or criminal activity, emergency responders will be notified.

For more information, visit www.leadingefforts.org or call (847) 295-9075.