Frequently asked questions
How is What’s Up different to the
other telephone counselling services available to children and young
people?
While What’s Up is aimed at five to 18 year
olds, the primary focus is on seven to 12 year olds, who are under-served
by other mental health services and not addressed by any professional
telephone counselling service.
What’s Up emphasises that callers can ring
in with any issue, however small. Although What’s Up counsellors
are fully prepared to deal with serious problems and crises, the
service’s focus is on early intervention and prevention. Callers
can phone up whenever they want to without having to feel that their
reason for calling is "serious enough".
Equally important to young callers is the fact
that What’s Up is anonymous and confidential. They don’t
have to say who they are and What’s Up will not tell anyone
what they have said. It has been identified that anonymity and confidentiality
is critical for this group. This confidentiality is breached only
in situations were the counsellor and the duty supervisor believe
that the caller faces an immediate or untenable risk, or someone
is at immediate risk from the caller.
These features of the service promote opportunities
for early intervention, rather than "ambulance at the bottom
of the cliff" responses.
Another key difference is that What’s Up
is staffed by professional, paid counsellors. Before being appointed,
What’s Up counsellors undergo a rigorous selection process
and once appointed, they are trained in procedures unique to What’s
Up. After appointment, the counsellors are subject to constant supervision,
performance evaluation and professional development.
What’s Up also has rigorous internal systems
of quality assurance and accountability.
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How do children/young people know how to reach
What’s Up?
The toll-free phone number and details about What’s Up have
been promoted widely. Information kits were distributed to 41,000
school classrooms throughout New Zealand in October 2001. These
contained information for teachers, parents and children and included
specially designed, coloured stickers featuring the phone number.
In additions, TV ads have been shown and information about What’s
Up has appeared on sponsor product packs.
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Who are the counsellors and what qualifies them
to advise children they don’t know?
Firstly, good counselling practice does not involve giving advice.
What’s Up counsellors offer young people calling in what is
known as "child-centred practice". This includes:
- Listening to and respecting what children have to say
- Focusing on their needs
- Seeing the world from the caller’s perspective
- Knowing that the child is the primary client
- Seeing the child as an individual, as well as a member of a
class, family or other group
- Respecting the child.
Empowering the child is also central to the What’s Up counselling
practice. This involves developing the child’s personal competence
and resilience, enabling him/her to think through options available
and influence his/her world in a positive manner.
What’s Up counsellors are carefully selected professionals
who are paid and held fully accountable for their counselling skills
and knowledge of the issues most likely to be raised by young callers.
Their continuing professional development is supported and monitored.
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What sort of problems do children call about?
Over 60% of the counselling calls answered at What’s Up are
about relationships with others. Concerns about peer relationships
top the list, followed by bullying, relationships with family, relationships
with partners, and pregnancy. There is a long list of less common
problems, each making up just a few percent of the calls. Because
New Zealand has one of the highest rates of youth suicide in the
world and disproportionately high rates of child abuse, What’s
Up counsellors are also trained to provide assistance in these areas,
although they are not frequent reasons for calling.
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Shouldn’t the callers be speaking to a parent
or friend instead of an anonymous person on the end of the phone?
Of course, friends and family should always be the first and most
important source of guidance and support for young people. But for
everyone in their early years, there are times when friends and
family are just not available or appropriate to go to. Sadly, for
some young people, this is too much of the time.
What’s Up is there to respond to calls from children and
teenagers who choose to talk to its counsellors. What’s Up
does not initiate contact with any callers and its counsellors do
not give the callers advice on what to do. Its counsellors are trained
to assist the callers to identify and make best use of the strengths
within themselves and elsewhere in their lives, which may well include
the caller returning to make better use of family and friends.
Certain aspects of the upbringing of our children have always been
shared with many people in our communities outside of the immediate
family: teachers, doctors, nurses, friends, relatives, etc. What’s
Up means that trained, professional counsellors are also readily
available to any children who choose to access them.
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How is it possible to effectively assist callers
over the telephone?
Telephone counselling services have been operating in many parts
of the world, including New Zealand, for over 30 years. Their value
has been well-proven, especially in making counselling services
more accessible to people for whom access to face-to-face services
is difficult because or geographical isolation, inability to pay,
low self-confidence, lack of skills to negotiate the referral path,
etc.
In New Zealand, Lifeline, Youthline, and Kidsline, among others,
have clearly established that New Zealanders want to use telephone
counselling services
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Can they call in at anytime?
What’s Up offers a national toll-free line seven days a week,
from 12 midday to 12 midnight. We have chosen these times because
this is when there is the greatest demand.
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What happens if a young person calling in confesses
to illegal activity or is in danger – such as sexual or physical
abuse or if they are threatening suicide? Who do you tell –
their parents, the police?
What’s Up has to balance legal, ethical and moral commitments
in dealing with anonymity and confidentiality. These considerations
can be complex when the issues raised by young people are highly
sensitive – such as sexual identity, sexual abuse or suicidal
feelings.
What’s Up carries the same responsibilities as any member
of the New Zealand community in exercising "duty of care"
when the risk to someone is considered immediate or untenable. Such
situations would include suicide risk, serious physical abuse, sexual
abuse and threat to others. Any decision at What’s Up to exercise
"duty of care" procedures that would involve breaching
confidentiality is considered exceptional. It must go through rigorous
review by multiple staff, including a Supervisor, before being approved.
This involves consideration of potentially adverse outcomes for
the young caller, among other things. The guiding rule is always
the best interests of the caller.
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Are children/young people – or their parents
–charged for calling What’s Up, either for the counselling
or the phone call?
What’s Up is an entirely free service – there is no
charge for the phone call on 0800 WHATSUP (0800 942 8787)
and also the counselling is provided free of charge. The free nature
of this service is central to its accessibility to all New Zealand
children and young people.
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Where is What’s Up located?
The national What’s Up service operates out of The Kids Help
Foundation Trust head office in Auckland. For more contact details
click here.
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Whose idea is What’s Up?
Expatriate New Zealander and children’s advocate Jocelyn
Cowern brought the concept to New Zealand. It is modelled on the
applauded Kids Help Line service that has been operating in Australia
since 1991.
Jocelyn now divides her time between Canada and Raumati Beach and
has been involved for many years in the development and care of
children and young people. Her vision was to make a significant
contribution to the lives of young people in New Zealand.
During the latter part of 1997, Ms Cowern began consulting with
the key organisations involved with children and young people to
ascertain the greatest areas of need. She had in mind, from the
start, a service that would act as early intervention, rather than
being an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. She also started
the process of determining what form the service should take and
identifying where funding could be sourced. During this process,
children and young people were also consulted.
Ms Cowern’s early efforts were developed over a three year
period by a dedicated team of like-minded people. Their combined
expertise and energy achieved the launch of the What’s Up
service on September 21, 2001.
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Who runs What’s Up?
Grant Taylor MSc (Hons), DipClinPsych, MNZPsS, FNZCCPsych is the
Executive Director of The Kids Help Foundation Trust. He leads the
team of counselling supervisors and professional counsellors who
are trained to respectfully and confidentially assist children with
any problem, large or small. He has over 20 years in clinical practice
and reports to a Board of Directors.
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How is What's Up governed?
The Kids Help Foundation Trust has a Board of three Trustees. The
Board functions under the control of Barnardos New Zealand, which
appoints the Trustees.
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Where does the funding for What’s Up come
from?
The Kids Help Foundation Trust, which operates What’s Up,
is a registered charity that receives most of its funding from donations.
It is also assisted by the financial support provided by Telecom
New Zealand. Additional funding is sought from charitable trusts
and foundations.
In addition, The Kids Help Foundation Trust raises funds through
servicing government social service contracts.
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What is the role of these corporate sponsors
– do they have any say in how What’s Up is run?
The role of the corporate sponsors is to provide The Kids Help
Foundation with core funding to operate the What’s Up telephone
counselling service. The operation and management of the Trust and
What’s Up is the responsibility of the Executive Director,
Grant Taylor, and his management team.
Along with people experienced in child advocacy and telephone counselling
services, the Trust’s Board includes respected business executives
who were appointed because of their business skills and experience
and commitment to improving children’s lives. Their role on
the Board is to contribute to the best possible governance in accordance
with its Trust Deed.
The Kids Help Foundation Trust offers What's Up in association
with Barnardos New Zealand.
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Is there any Government funding for What’s
Up?
Currently, funding for The Kids Help Foundation Trust and the operation
of What’s Up comes primarily from individual donations and
sponsorship by Telecom
New Zealand. Additional funding comes from time to time from
charitable trusts and foundations. Two significant grants-in-aid
were provided by Child, Youth and Family in 2004, which also contracts
The Kids Help Foundation Trust to provide some assistance to children
and young people. Further sources of funding are constantly being
explored. Future funding partners will be organisations that have
a good fit with the Trust’s vision and purposes and with those
of the existing sponsors. Financial support through donations is
always welcome. Click here to learn how to become involved in other
ways in the Trust’s work on enabling young people.
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about business Partnerships
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involved
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