Welcome parents

The first thing you need to know about access to Upopolis, powered by KHLF (a non-profit started by a family with lived experience), is that we care about safety above everything. For this reason, you must have a professional refer your youth before they can create a profile or they can attend a Common Ground event hosted by the Upopolis team. We’re sure that the more you learn about how Upopolis helps your youth on their journey, the more you’ll see the value in joining our free platform. So, we’ve made it as easy as possible while maintaining safety and confidentiality by providing this online referral form.

Look at what Upopolis offers

Once youth have access, they can talk to peers, mentors, and professionals (CCLS) to prepare for upcoming tests, procedures and situations, alleviating their fears and anxieties through empowerment and education. Our platform encourages youth to get involved in their own care and coping by joining diagnosis and situation-related discussions, meet-ups and skill-building workshops, all under the supervision of professionals who are actively monitoring the site. The UPal and UMentor programs on Upopolis also enhance their leadership skills and earn them mandatory high school volunteer hours that may otherwise not be possible due to illness, hospitalization, family situation or activity restrictions.

Reliable medical content

We provide access to experienced Certified Child Life Specialists (CCLS)  who are ready to answer their questions. Youth can also access Uknow, a library that’s full of accurate, age-appropriate, and reliable information and videos. All content on Upopolis is either created, written, or reviewed by professionals with knowledge of youth development. Upopolis helps youth prepare for and understand their journey at their own pace. It also provides them with volunteer opportunities to build their leadership skills.

We make safety our number one priority.

Upopolis users must be referred by a professional (teacher, health care professional, etc.) or youth can self-refer/ express interest using the form on the Youth page “Join Now”. Youth who self-refer must connect virtually with a CCLS from the Upopolis team before they can access programming and the online community.

The only adults who have access to Upopolis are professionals who are trained to work with and engage with youth patients.

Youth users are never anonymous; they are identified using their real first name, and only after the referrer is verified can they join the platform. This increases accountability for behavior on the site.

We are always aware of all of the content and user activity on the site, and daily reports are reviewed which include all site activity.

Every referral includes an emergency name and contact information.

Upopolis has a safety reporting function for every post and photo. Content that is reported immediately disappears from the site and is then reviewed by administrators.