KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Reporting a case of child abuse or seeking resources no longer involves waiting for a dial tone.
Now, kids can report child abuse by sending a text message.
Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline is the country's top child abuse hotline. This month, the non-profit created a text-line dedicated to child abuse, underage sexual assault and neglect after realizing most of the phone calls were coming from adults.
"A lot of young people are nervous to make that first call," said Daphne Young of Childhelp. "We are hoping to create enough of a comfort level so they can find their voice through text words."
During testing, Young said about 80 percent of the people who chose to text were 18-years-old or younger.
The hotline is "a source of comfort, a source of information and education and sometimes its that catalyst to take the next step," said Young.
Missouri is one of the states Childhelp will be monitoring to see how the text-line goes. The state ranks third in the country for calls made per capita to the Childhelp line
