The nation’s first three-digit suicide prevention hotline will go live on Saturday, as officials across the country want to make it easier for people to seek help during mental health emergencies.
The nationwide 24/7 hotline — reached by dialing or texting 988 — is meant to be simpler to remember, like the general emergency number 911. As with the current ten-digit suicide prevention hotline, the phone number will connect callers with mental health counselors and people trained in suicide prevention.
When a person calls or texts 988, they will be connected to one of 200 crisis centers. There is also a chat feature on the website.
Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra called the launch of 988 “life or death,” comparing it to the Apollo rocket launch.
“988 is life and death. And so we want this to go well. Failure is not an option,” he told a roundtable of advocates and officials in Philadelphia Friday.
The current hotline — 1-800-273-8255 — will still work if you call.
Raffaela Gualtieri, a former mental health patient turned provider, said her experience on crisis teams has shown her how a single intervention can turn things around.
“Once you meet the person where they’re at and you really take the time to work through and talk about what is happening in their life and the resources that are available, it gives them that sense of empowerment, to really take charge of their own well being,” she told Sec. Becerra and other officials on Friday.
“Once we arrive on scene and connect with that individual, sometimes they just need someone to talk to. They don’t need to necessarily go to the hospital. They just need someone to talk to until their next appointment,” she added.
In 2020, suicide was a top nine leading cause of death in the U.S. According to data on the current suicide lifeline, less than 2% of calls led to emergency services visits, and many reported their call prevented them from killing themselves.
One concern about 988’s introduction is staffing and resources, since the new lifeline is expected to generate more calls overall. Crisis centers answered more than 2.5 million calls in 2021.
Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, who leads the U.S. agency overseeing the hotline — the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration — told Spectrum News that they have been actively recruiting people in order to prepare for the expansion.
“We’ve developed a 988 jobs website. So we do want people to know about that,” she said. “What we’ve seen is that already the response rates are just significantly increasing.”
The initial funding to create the hotline was approved by Congress and signed into law by former president Donald Trump in 2020.
The Biden administration has invested more than $430 million in the 988 hotline, they said, most recently including $105 million in grant funding from the COVID-19 relief bill passed last year.
But state and local public health officials will have to manage their crisis centers and help pay for them.
According to the National Academy of State Health Policy, four states have enacted laws to impose telecommunications fees to support 988 and many others are working on the issue.
A RAND Corp. survey published last month found that fewer than half of state or regional public health officials were confident about being ready for 988, which is expected to generate an influx of calls.
Nearly 60% said call-center staffers had specialized suicide prevention training; half said they had mobile crisis response teams available 24/7 with licensed counselors; and fewer than one-third had urgent mental-health care units.
If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available. Please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, or text HOME to 741741 for support from the Crisis Text Line. Beginning Saturday, July 16, you can also call or text 988.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
