Is Haven for kids?
Haven is built for adults, and there is a hard minimum age of 13. Between 13 and 17, a parent or guardian has to give permission first — and until that permission comes back, the account stays closed.
The short version
If you are 18 or older, you can use Haven. If you are between 13 and 17, you can use it only with a parent or guardian's permission. If you are under 13, you cannot use Haven at all — there is no permission route below that age, and the signup will turn you away. We ask everyone their age when they make an account, and there is no way to skip the question.
Why there is a hard floor at 13
Under-13s are covered by stricter rules than a permission email can satisfy, and Haven has to send what you write to an AI provider in order to screen it for safety and write a reply. Rather than pretend an email is enough, we do not accept accounts below 13 at all. It is the honest answer, even though it means turning some people away.
How the permission actually works
When someone between 13 and 17 signs up, we don't take their word for it and let them straight in. We ask for a parent or guardian's email and send that adult a message explaining what Haven is and asking whether they agree. Nothing opens up until that adult replies and says yes. A checkbox the young person ticks themselves is not permission, and we don't treat it as permission.
If the parent says no, or never replies, the account does not become usable, and we delete it. The record that a parent was asked, and what they answered, is kept so there is an honest trail — see the Privacy Policy for what we store.
What Haven will and won't do with a young person
Haven is a space to put feelings into words, not a therapist, a counselor, or a medical service. With anyone — a teenager included — it will not diagnose, will not treat, and will not stand in for a trusted adult, a school counselor, or a doctor. It will keep pointing a young person toward real people who can help.
The same safety layer that runs for everyone runs here too: if a conversation turns toward self-harm or danger, Haven sets its guide style aside and responds with crisis information instead of continuing as normal. It cannot call anyone for you.
If you're a parent
You're the one we ask, and you're the one who decides. If you'd rather your child not use Haven at all, saying no — or simply not replying — is enough to keep the account closed. If you have questions before you answer, the email we send includes a way to reach us.