It will be a while before people know 9-8-8 like they know 9-1-1
Come July, Americans experiencing a mental health crisis can press three digits on their phones, “9-8-8,” and reach the suicide prevention hotline.
The vision: The new, easy-to-use number is being billed as the “911” for mental health care. It’s a dramatic revamp of the system that builds on the current crisis line, where Americans can call, text or online chat call centers nationwide and receive counseling. The ultimate goal is to be able to dispatch mobile crisis teams immediately to anyone in need, no matter where they live.
But there’s a broad recognition that it’ll take time to scale up such services, say advocates, lawmakers and those intimately involved in 988 efforts.
Gearing up: Last week, Rep. Tony Cárdenas (D-Calif.) introduced bipartisan legislation to provide federal funding and guidance for states to rev up their 988 crisis response infrastructure. Lawmakers put an increase of over $77 million toward such efforts in the long-term government funding bill passed earlier this month. And the Biden administration plans to request nearly $700 million for launching 988 in its upcoming budget.
- “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fundamentally transform part of the mental health system that for far too long has been underfunded and undersupported,” said Hannah Wesolowski, the chief advocacy officer at the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “There’s a lot to happen between now and calling it a success.”
The efforts to prep for the new, three-digit hotline come amid a growing focus on mental health in Congress and the Biden administration.
- The pandemic further exposed the barriers to quickly and easily accessing mental health treatment.
- The surgeon general has sounded the alarm about a crisis in youth mental health.
- Suicides increased 35 percent from 1999 to 2018, before declining slightly the next two years.
National Alliance on Mental Illness:
The network
Established in 2005, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is comprised of over 180 independently operated and funded local call centers, as well as nine national backup centers. Its current 24-hour hotline can be reached at 1-800-273-8255, but will also be available at “988” starting July 16.
In 2020, the Lifeline received over 3.3 million calls, texts and online chats.
- But it can only handle responding to roughly 85 percent of calls, 56 percent of texts and 30 percent of chats, per a report from the federal government, which cited a December 2020 analysis.
And yet, the number of user contacts may swell to 7.6 million by July 2023, after the new three-digit number is operational for a year. That’s according to the report late last year from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which oversees the grant support mechanism for the hotline.
“Without proper resourcing, the supply-demand gap is likely to be exacerbated by the creation of 988,” the report states.
John Draper, the executive director of the Lifeline, says the network has been “historically underresourced.” There’s been a reliance on states and counties to fund the local call centers — as well as volunteers to help man the phone lines. He said the hotline recently received tens of millions of dollars from SAMHSA, which it’s planning to use to shore up national chatting and texting capabilities.
In Washington
Federal efforts are intensifying as July 16 looms.
At SAMHSA … the agency has been focused on ensuring those who call, text or chat the Lifeline get responses quickly, and helping local areas expand their capacity to dispatch crisis teams.
- “We really see this as really a journey and a start of a new phase with respect to 988 implementation,” John Palmieri, who is leading SAMHSA’s portion of the transition to 988, said in an interview.
In Congress … Last week, Cárdenas introduced the 988 Implementation Act — a bipartisan bill to authorize a total of several billion dollars for the hotline and mental health care. The legislation would fund the 988 hotline and mobile crisis teams, create an educational awareness campaign and increase funding for workforce training.
- “The current system is going to be tested like it’s never been before,” Cárdenas told The Health 202.
- The hope, per Cárdenas, is to include his legislation in Congress’ broader mental health efforts, as multiple committees work to craft packages in the coming months. That traction could serve as a push for state and local governments to put more of their own dollars toward 988.