Two years after the launch of the Suicide and crisis helpline 988Ten million contacts have been answered, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
“That’s 10 million people who, often on the worst day of their lives, had a resource to turn to,” Hannah Wesolowski, director of advocacy for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, told ABC News.
Prior to the launch of the three-digit number, services provided by 988 were available through the 10-digit National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which had been active since 2005.
“In his first year, [the 10-digit Lifeline] “We’ve served about 45,000 people, and to think that we served that many people in less than a week is mind-blowing,” Dr. Tia Dole, director of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at lifeline administrator Vibrant Emotional Health, told ABC News.
In the months leading up to the new number’s launch in 2022, advocates were concerned that funding and staffing issues would hamper the lifeline’s ability to handle what was expected to be a dramatic increase in call volume.
The latest available data from SAMHSA shows nationwide response rates of 88% for calls, 83% for chats, and 97% for text messages for the month of May.
“The average call lasts 14 minutes. To me, that kind of impact is very significant,” Dole said.[With 988,] “You don’t need insurance, you don’t need to say who you are, and the person on the other end of the line immediately empathizes with you.”
Financing helps meet demands
Even though response rates are still imperfect, some advocates tell ABC News that robust federal and state funding levels have helped increase capacity to largely meet demand.
“We’ve been running a system for two years that required massive investment in infrastructure, new ways of thinking, new ways of partnering with other systems,” Wesolowski said. “We always knew that [building out crisis care] “It was going to take many years, and if we had waited for it to be perfect, we would never have achieved it.”
The Biden administration has allocated $1.5 billion to start up the 988 Lifeline network, much of it before its launch in 2022, to help address capacity issues.
“It has been a priority for the administration to invest heavily in the [988] “Suicide & Crisis Lifeline,” SAMHSA Administrator Dr. Miriam Delphin-Rittmon told ABC News. “$1.5 billion has been invested in 988, as part of this comprehensive strategy to address the nation’s overall behavioral health.”
Building a sustainable financing future
Amid a contentious political cycle, Wesolowski said he is “hopeful” the outcome of the presidential election will not substantially impact federal investment in the service, noting that former President Donald Trump signed the bill designating 988 as the lifeline in 2020.
“We’ve seen even in the change of control of the House, [a] The divided Congress still maintains a strong interest in funding this resource. We have seen a modest increase [in funding] “This past fiscal year, about $18 million more than ’98, but in an environment where a lot of programs are being cut, that’s pretty good,” he said. “There’s strong bipartisan support.”
Delphin-Rittmon said many states have been working with the federal government to build out the crisis response system, making investments at the state level to help fund 988 and related services.
So far, nine states have enacted a vital 988 tax on cell phones, similar to the tax in place to fund 911 call centers, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, or NAMIand several others have allocated funds to finance the service.
In Washington, one of the states with a 988 tax, Levi Van Dyke is the behavioral health director for Volunteers of America Western Washington, which fields 988 calls, chats and texts statewide.
“The sustainable funding of the 988 program in Washington state is, perhaps, different than other states. We seem to be in a very good position with that fee and support for the 988 program,” Van Dyke told ABC News. “When I talk to colleagues at centers around the country, I always feel very fortunate that we are in a good position when it comes to those resources.”
Subnets that provide specialized services
Amid the buildout of the 988 system, the lifeline has also bolstered specialized services for veterans, Spanish speakers, LGBTQ youth, and deaf and hard of hearing individuals.
Dole said there are currently no plans to add another national subnet, and said extending interactive voice response to the beginning of a 988 call poses a challenge.
“The hard part is expanding the IVR [Interactive Voice Response] “Press one, press two, press three, press four,” he said. “When you add extra words to the message, it delays access to attention. And what that does is it increases the chance of abandonment, which is people clicking ‘no.'”
Back in Washington, the Native and strong life line allows callers to speak with Native American counselors who can offer culturally specific care to Native people. The state-specific line was created in response to disproportionate suicide rates among Native American communities.
Delphin-Rittmon told ABC News that SAMHSA has received interest from other states in creating a similar line and that those discussions are ongoing.
Van Dyke said the process to create the line in Washington took years and required specialized personnel and training, but he would love to see it offered in other states.
“We’ve seen the impact and importance of having this dedicated service, and we’d love to see that service grow and expand outside of Washington state,” Van Dyke said.
Raising awareness and when to call
Dole said that while the service is called the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, “I really think of 988 as preventative,” noting that you don’t have to be in an active crisis to call.
“If you’re having a mental health emergency, don’t hesitate to call us,” Dole said. “But if you’re going through a really difficult time, please call us. The sooner you do, the more likely we are to connect you with services that will help prevent an emergency.”
She said 988 staff can connect callers with resources to help them deal with non-emergency mental health issues and hopefully help prevent crises as well as respond to them.
“988 is certainly for people in crisis, and it’s certainly for people before they get into crisis, and for their loved ones and their families,” she said.
Delphin-Rittmon echoed that sentiment, telling ABC News: “If people are going through a difficult time, it’s important for them to know that they are not alone, that we are here for them. There are trained and compassionate counselors available 24/7 to help them with any type of crisis related to mental health, substance use or suicide.”
Looking ahead, advocates say they want 988 to be widely known as the number to call for people struggling with mental health issues.
“I want 988 to be as ubiquitous in our culture as 911,” Wesolowski said. “I want all young people to not hesitate for a second, to not even think that if they’re in trouble, if their friends or their parents or their siblings are in trouble, they have to feel like 988 is a natural place they can turn to and they know what they’re going to get when they do.”
If you are experiencing a suicide, substance use, or other mental health crisis, or are concerned about a friend or loved one, call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Helpline. You will be connected to a trained crisis counselor for free, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also visit 988lifeline.org.
