This month marks a year since 988 launched. The new, easier-to-remember number for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline arrived at a time when the demand for mental health support is increasing across the country.
What is 988?
988 is the new, easy to remember number for the national suicide prevention lifeline, which had been a 10-digit number. The number started back in 2020 when President Donald Trump signed a bipartisan bill creating the three-digital hotline for mental health emergencies. It launched on July 16 of last year.
Every state has 988 call centers, plus there's a national one for back-up. Iowa's two call centers are operated by Foundation 2 Crisis Services in Cedar Rapids and CommUnity Crisis Services in Iowa City who have contracts with the state Department of Health and Human Services.
988's first anniversary is this week. What's its first year been like?
In the first year of 988, Foundation 2 and CommUnity said they responded to 142% more contacts, which includes calls, texts and online chats, as compared to the previous year when it was still the 10-digit suicide prevention lifeline number. More than 31,000 Iowans have called 988 in this first year.
But leaders of those non-profits said rolling out the service continues to be a huge undertaking.
Emily Blomme, the CEO of Foundation 2, said one major challenge that call centers continue to face is finding and retaining staff.
"While the work is incredibly rewarding, it is also hard," she said. "And so we have people who might start training, but then decide it's not a job for them mid-training and quit, or they might have one situation that was really really intense, like an active suicide, and they just don't want to do the work."
On top of that, the state legislature has still not passed any designated funding for Iowa’s 988 services like some other states.
In May, the Biden administration announced it is offering an additional $200 million to states to help with 988 services.
Iowa HHS officials said last year they’re planning to use temporary federal funding for now, crunch some numbers and then come up with a long term state funding plan. But it’s still unclear what that’s going to be.
Iowa HHS did not respond to IPR's request for an interview.
What does 988 call information say about the need for mental health services?
Calls to mental health support lines overall are up, and advocates say that’s because the last few years have been really stressful because, but not limited to, events like the 2020 derecho and election, the Jan. 6 insurrection and, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic.
Peggy Huppert, the executive director of NAMI Iowa, said everyone living through these traumas together also has loosened some of the stigma around mental health, so more people are reaching out for help.
"That's a silver lining, from my perspective, is that there's been a very much increased awareness and willingness to talk about it," Huppert said, "because so many more people have experienced either anxiety or depression, and they can relate to what that is."
But despite an increase in call volume, a recent Pew Charitable Trusts poll found only 13% of adults know about 988 and its purpose.
Part of that reason for this in Iowa is because officials have held off on big marketing campaigns to advertise it as its call centers prepare and work out all the kinks in its services, but that will likely change in the upcoming months.
What’s next for 988?
Mental health advocates said figuring out how to fund the service in the long run is important as well as increasing awareness of the service.
Foundation 2 and CommUnity said their crisis counselors could adequately handle 97% of contacts without further support.
But Iowa has an ongoing issue with having enough crisis intervention services across the state, so in those small percentage of cases when someone needs in-person assistance, a trained mental health professional will show up, instead of just the police. Crisis services like this, especially in western Iowa, are still sparse.
There’s also an aspiration to integrate 988 with 911. If someone calls 911 in need of mental health support — which happens frequently — they can be transferred to 988.
Mental health advocates want this, but the nonprofits running Iowa's 988 call centers said this is much more technically difficult than it sounds, so it might be a while before there is any kind of crossover.
If you are in need of help, you can call 988, the Iowa Warm line at 1-844-775-9276, the Iowa Concern hotline at 800-447-1985, or Your Life Iowa at (855) 581-8111 (call) or (855) 895-8398 (text).
Para obtener ayuda en español, llame al 531-800-3687.
