GREENVILLE (S.C.) — Next month, 911 will launch a mental health version. While it is hoped that this will make it easier to prevent suicide and other emergency situations, some mental health professionals are concerned that they won’t be able to deal with the expected flood of calls.
Jennifer Piver, executive director of Mental Health America in Greenville County in South Carolina said that “we have all the technology.” “We don’t have the money for staff or salaries.”
988 is a new three-digit national number that connects people with mental health problems to those who have been specially trained to deal with such situations. The number is easy to remember and will be available starting July 16.
2020 was the year of bipartisan legislation in Congress that mandated the launch the 988 emergency phone number. However, financial support for staffing and computer systems, as well as other infrastructure, was left up to the states.
However, most states, including South Carolina have not allocated funds for the service. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, only 20 states have any legislation to implement 988. Only four states have comprehensive funding plans: Nevada, Colorado, Virginia, Washington and Washington.
Rand Corp.’s report last week found that more than half the public health officials responsible for launching the 988 phone line felt unprepared and lacked the necessary funding to support the rollout.
Mental health professionals such as Piver have been frustrated by the lack of legislative support. South Carolina passed the Student Identification Card Suicide Prevention Act last year. This required that the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline be printed on student identification cards for students in grades seven through university.
Piver stated that the program was a huge success. “We saved a young man’s life within the first 24 hours of his first day of school.”
While some states have passed legislation to increase the cost of 988 calls, similar proposals have been rejected in many other states.
When a person is in crisis or a loved one calls for assistance, every second counts. Piver and other mental healthcare professionals across the country worry that states without designated funds or staffing may not be able to meet the demand for the line when it launches next month.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 20 percent of Americans will suffer from a mental disorder in any given year. Even before the Covid pandemic, reports of mental illness have been increasing.
Piver’s North Carolina team was able to use a previous state grant to help build infrastructure for a new Call Center.
“We have the seats. Piver stated that there are infinite resources available to allow people to work remotely.
She said that there was no additional support to help hire the right people to staff the lines. If there is no staffing, calls are routed to another call center.
She stated, “If we don’t have the people to answer the telephone, it is an issue.” She said that people in mental health emergencies need immediate help.
“Are they going be able to keep the phone ringing so long as it takes to get to someone?”
“The minutes are what matter.”
Julie Cerel (a licensed psychologist) was the director of the Suicide Prevention and Exposure Lab of the University of Kentucky.
Cerel stated that waiting for help makes crisis callers “less likely” to call again the next time they have a problem. “If they’re in a crisis and are considering suicide, or contemplating ending their lives, they might hang up the phone or commit suicide.”
It is expected that the new number will be easier to remember than 800, which is handled by the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. It’s designed to speed up mental health services so that people can get the immediate help they need faster than calling 911. This usually connects callers with law enforcement agencies, not mental health professionals.
Bob Gebbia, chief operating officer at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, stated that the 988 program was promising but that he needed additional federal and state funding to make it work.
He said that it was better to have this than not, but matching demand is a problem.
The only center that is certified to deal with mental health issues for South Carolina’s more than 5,000,000 residents, Greenville, can answer over 80 percent of the roughly 100 calls it receives every day.
Piver believes the percentage will plummet if the state doesn’t provide additional funding. The number of calls will only rise after 988 is implemented.
South Carolina does not have legislation to increase the money for 988. Piver stated that she is frustrated by the lack of funds and said that calls to her center have helped deescalate life-threatening situations where people might otherwise have had to call 911, go to the emergency room, or even die from suicide.
“These phone calls do save lives.”
The new hotline will not be in effect until mid July. If you or someone you know is in immediate crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.