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Davis Journal

New 988 suicide prevention line goes directly to crisis counselors

Aug 08, 2022 12:46PM ● By Becky Ginos

WASHINGTON—It’s taken five years of work, but the three digit 988 suicide prevention and mental health universal hotline went live on July 16. Congressman Chris Stewart introduced the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act with Rep. Seth Moulton in 2020. President Donald Trump signed it into law in October that same year. 

“It’s very gratifying,” said Stewart. “It’s taken five years, three years to get it through Congress even though it was bipartisan, and two years with the FCC. I’m excited to see it go live so it will be out there helping people.”

All telecommunications carriers must now provide access to 9-8-8. The number will direct calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline that provides free crisis counseling and emotional support to more than 2 million callers a year.

Stewart said there were two things that drove him to introduce this legislation. “I was approached by a family from Utah whose daughter committed suicide. It was heartbreaking. The last call she made was a 1-800 crisis line and no one answered. Can you imagine if someone had been there?” 

He was also concerned about veterans. “I’m a veteran and vets suffer from PTSD and other mental illnesses,” said Stewart. “We all hear that Utah is one of the best cultures to live in but it ranked 5th highest in the nation for suicides per capita. That’s what drew me to this. I’m really glad I’ve been involved with it.”

Now that it’s live, the states are responsible to man the call centers. “Almost all of the states have done a good job,” he said. “There’s only three or four that haven’t. Fortunately, if a call can’t be answered it will roll over to another state. The worst would be if someone calls in a crisis and no one answers or they say they’ll call back next Thursday.”

Once again, Utah is the real leader, said Stewart. “They’re way ahead. They’re well funded and well manned.” 

There will be some federal oversight but not much, he said. “We don’t want to take on another federal program. States couldn’t take on telecommunications to create a three digit number, that had to be done at the federal level. We’ll be monitoring as far as the call centers go to make sure they are manned and properly trained but then we’ll get out of the way and let states innovate on this.”

Stewart said he will continue to work on the issue. “When it comes to suicide prevention the more we know the better it is.”