Getting Help & Barriers Module is about identifying ways of getting help for oneself and others and on overcoming barriers to getting help. When youth and/or their friends are confronted with abuse, they need to know where and who to get help from. In order to facilitate getting help, it is also important to provide youth with a safe space to discuss barriers to getting help and solutions for overcoming these barriers. This module provides an opportunity to unpack barriers to getting help and identify strategies for getting help for oneself and one’s peers.

Big Messages:

• It is important to never give up and to keep telling until you get the help you need
• You may need to tell more than one person to get the help you need
• Get help for a friend or peer from a trusted adult
  

Learning Goals:

Increase awareness of how and when to get help for yourself and others

• Identify some common situations where help is needed
• Identify barriers to getting help
• Identify strategies for assessing safety in a situation
• Identify ways to get help in a safe way
• Identify who to go to for help
• Identify ways to get help for friends and peers

What The Evidence Says

(click here for full version of literature review)

When youth are in distress or experiencing maltreatment, the most important thing for them to do is to get help from a trusted adult. It is the responsibility of the adults in a youth’s life to prevent or intervene and youth need to know who they can get help from, where they can do so, and how this process might unfold. Youth also need to know that they need to keep telling until they get the help they need. It is possible that the first person they approach may not provide adequate support and youth need to persist in telling until they receive the right kind of help. The focus of this module is on identifying barriers to getting help and exploring strategies and resources for getting help both for oneself and one’s peers.There are a variety of barriers that may prevent youth from disclosing their experiences of maltreatment. For example, this can include anxiety around not being believed and fear of the negative consequences disclosure can have on oneself and one’s family (Alaggia, 2010; Crisma, et al., 2004; Jensen, et al., 2005; Paine & Hansen, 2002; Ungar, et al., 2009). Furthermore, gender and cultural factors can also impact youth’s decisions around disclosure. Adults who work with youth and are on the receiving end of requests for help need to be aware of these common barriers to disclosure. Together, they need to work with youth in overcoming them. For example, this can include providing a safe space for youth to discuss these barriers and providing them with resources for getting help.

 It has been found that younger children are more likely to disclose abuse to adults whereas youth turn to their peers for support (Kogan, 2004; Shackel, 2009; Ungar, et al., 2009). When disclosing to peers, youth are more likely to share about maltreatment experiences involving same-age peers and not necessarily about abuse perpetrated by adults. Regardless of the type of experiences shared with peers, adult involvement is necessary for prevention and intervention. It is important to emphasize that youth should get help from a trusted adult when experiencing abuse. Furthermore, when a friend discloses to them, they are not responsible for directly intervening and should immediately get help for their peer from a trusted adult.

Note to Facilitator:

The facilitator has a legal obligation to report suspicions of child abuse to a child protection agency (in the case of Ontario, the Children’s Aid Society (CAS)). Please review over the information provided around disclosure and the reporting process.

Activities

Identifying Trusted Adults
Getting Help for Peers
Exploration of Kids Help Phone
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