In the six months since the launch of the national, government-backed 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, contact and answer rates have risen dramatically, while the average speed to answer has dropped, according to data.
SAMHSA data shows that 371,655 people contacted the lifeline in December, compared to 260,095 in December 2021.
A 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline sign at the entrance to Taft Bridge in Washington is photographed on Feb. 10, 2023.MORE: 988 Suicide Prevention Lifeline sees 45% increase in contacts, but funding concerns remain The Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Bill, passed in January, included $506.1 million to support and expand services provided by the lifeline. Combined with the $432 million previously allocated to shore up capacity ahead of the 988 launch, the Biden administration has invested almost $1 billion in the service.
"As more youth started to use text and then chat [to 988], we felt the need to pay attention to those modalities," Naturale said. "Even though calls remain high, we still get a significant number of contacts or calls, there has been a significant increase in overall utilization across the country of chat and text as communication modality. So, we needed to meet that challenge."
Mitchum said that the fiscal year 2023 appropriations for the lifeline -- $29.7 million is designated to help enhance training and provide more access to support disproportionately impacted youth -- will help build upon this program and increase access. For the week ending Jan. 29, the LGBTQ line saw average answer rates of 80% for calls, 98% for chats and 99% for texts, according to a spokesperson for Vibrant.Expanding access
The Biden administration's funding has helped strengthen the national backup network, according to SAMHSA, so fewer calls are going unanswered, but advocates said the ideal is to have callers connected to centers in their area that can provide useful follow up mental health resources.
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