Montana Cares, an app developed to provide simple and fast access to school and community resources, is now live. With the app, asking for help for one’s self or others is just a tap away.
According to an email sent out by Richland County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Timothy W. Tharp, the free app provides help for many things that people sometimes are too afraid to ask for help with such as food, housing, crisis counseling, suicidal thoughts, anxiety, depression, abuse, and violence intervention.
Once downloaded you click on the “Search For Your School” button and enter the county you are looking for information for. Even though the app is titled “Montana Cares” there are a few schools and counties in other states. Users are given three main methods for help. Resources give users customized information and help at the community, local, state, and national levels. The Crisis Text Line is manned by licensed people trained to respond to a crisis. The third method is under construction. It was originally designed to send a message directly to school contacts, but Tharp wants each school in the county to decide what they want for it. There are also tools to organize and track the local services asked for and received.
According to Tharp, the app was originally designed to be used in the school setting. In the schools, administrators can use a central admin platform to review incidents, communicate securely via two-way messaging, and manage resources supplied through the app. They can also send broadcast messages directly to users. Tharp and Jessica Gilbert, Northeast MT Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) director, control and regularly update the list of resources for Richland County. More services will be available for the schools once the school year starts again, but the app is available to everyone now.
Montana Cares launched for Android back on March 16 and it is currently only available for Android and Apple iPhones, tablets, and Chromebooks. According to the app, no data is shared with third parties, no data is collected without the user willingly providing it, any data provided by the user is encrypted in transit, and a user can request that data be deleted. Check out the Montana Cares app on Google Play or the Apple App Store.
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