Two years of 988: Successes and lessons learned
Approximately 2 million people with serious mental health issues are jailed each year, often for misdemeanor crimes. And between 5% and 20% of 911 calls are behavioral health-related incidents, said Julie Wertheimer, project director of mental health and justice partnerships for The Pew Charitable Trusts, during AHCJ’s fall summit in Washington, D.C.
These troubling stats underscore the importance of journalists’ role in raising awareness about the 988 suicide prevention hotline, panelists said.
Since the 988 number — a rebranding of the longer, difficult-to-remember National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number — was officially launched two years ago, more than 10 million contacts have been made. As a result, the number of counselors had to be increased very quickly, Wertheimer said.
The system has also been expanded to improve accessibility and integration within the mental health care system. The call system now includes local and national call centers, with specific lines for LGBTQI+, Spanish speakers, veterans, Native Americans and deaf and hard-of-hearing people, among other groups.
Here are some stats panelists highlighted:
- Nearly 110,00 Spanish language calls, texts and chats have been answered since those services were launched in July 2023.
- Counselors have answered more than 475,000 contacts from LGBTQI+ youth and young adults — a service that also launched in July 2023.
- 20,000 video phone calls have been answered in American Sign Language, a service introduced in September 2023.
And recently, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline announced the implementation of a new process called georouting or routing cellular phone calls to 988 contact centers based on a caller’s approximate location instead of by area code.
Tips and angles to consider
“I do think that any reporting on suicide prevention or suicide has to have a way out, a story of hope, or some way that people can see themselves getting out of it, because people are reading your articles,” said Tia Dole.
“I think it’s really important to think about what [your reporting] could cause.”
Panelists offered other tips, including that reporters should:
- Analyze regional trends and spikes in 988 call volume.
- Investigate funding sources and ratios of government vs. local funding for 988.
- Write about workforce issues like low pay for 988 crisis counselors.
- Report responsibly on suicide and mental health crises to avoid causing harm.
- Provide more in-depth reporting on 988 and mental health.
- Write about the implementation of georouting.
- Report on 988 public awareness campaigns.
