In the year since the launch of 988, the U.S. hotline has fielded almost 5 million calls, texts and chats, offering support to people in mental health crises. But officials say more federal and state dollars are needed to build and staff more call centers and meet the anticipated need.
Last July, 988 replaced the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (which had a much longer phone number) with a three-digit number that is easier to remember and dial. The PBS NewsHour’s Nicole Ellis spoke with Colleen Carr, Director of the National Alliance for Suicide Prevention and Ryan Levi, producer for the podcast Tradeoffs. The NewsHour’s Laura Santhanam contributed reporting.
Stream your PBS favorites with the PBS app: https://to.pbs.org/2Jb8twG
Find more from PBS NewsHour at https://www.pbs.org/newshour
Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2HfsCD6
Follow us:
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pbsnews
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/newshour
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newshour
Facebook: https://www.pbs.org/newshour
Subscribe:
PBS NewsHour podcasts: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/podcasts
Newsletters: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/subscribe
