Teencentral is powered by KidsPeace as a free and safe prevention and intervention resource for youth. Designed by founders Dr. Julius Licata and Ginger Papp as an innovative use of the internet, TeenCentral was unveiled in Washington DC in 1998. For nearly twenty years KidsPeace has provided TeenCentral to teens seeking answers and support to meet the challenges they face.

TeenCentral supports youth in a capacity that is unique from the traditional array of behavioral health services. In fact, TeenCentral often bridges the gap between services, offering youth an immediate resource for safe information and support. Through TeenCentral, adolescents can find information on a variety of topics. Users of the site can also submit a story/post regarding any crisis, problem or situation they are struggling with anonymously and receive a therapeutic support response. Adolescents receive this support from one of TeenCentral’s trained online counselors within 24-hours, safely, anonymously, and free of charge.

TeenCentral online counselors are a group of trained interns and volunteers, overseen by two site administrators (master’s level mental health professionals), and the Director, a Licensed Professional Counselor. TeenCentral users can also provide peer support to stories that have been previously posted using the same ‘Share Your Story’ feature.