The Texas 988 suicide hotline is facing a crisis of its own, with thousands of calls being abandoned each month. The issue stems from a combination of factors, including a $7 million funding deficit, a growing suicide rate in the state, and a shortage of trained counselors.
The state’s 988 hotline had the nation’s fifth-highest rate of abandoned calls in August, the latest data available. Thousands of Texans in need are abandoning the state’s suicide hotline mid-call every month as call centers struggle under a $7 million funding deficit and a growing suicide rate statewide.
The 988 number — a federally mandated, state-run service that connects callers to crisis counselors — fills an essential niche in the behavioral health care system because it gives catered mental health services in an emergency where 911 might not be appropriate. The hotline has been used thousands of times in two years, but its federal funding is declining, and with a workforce shortage, the system is starting to bend under the demand.“To be very clear, we’re doing way more work than we’ve ever been able to do,” said Jennifer Battle, supervisor of the 988 system at the Harris Center for Mental Health and IDD. “If you want us to actually meet the volume of Texas, then somebody’s got to decide to increase the resources that are made available to centers so that we can increase the number of people we serve.” Since launching in 2022, Texas’ five centers that answer calls to the 988 suicide hotline have received more than 380,000 calls, the second highest call volume in the nation. Currently, less than 85% of calls in Texas are answered in-state, with some 200 other centers across the nation serving as backup. Although much improved from the 40% in-state answer rate in 2021, the year before the state’s crisis hotline was integrated into the federally-mandated 988 hotline, Texas’ latest rate falls short of the 90% standard set by the national 988 administrator Vibrant Emotional Health. The more a caller is transferred in and out of state, the more likely he or she will hang up before reaching a crisis counselor. Between January and August, were abandone
SUICIDE HOTLINE MENTAL HEALTH FUNDING SHORTAGE WORKFORCE CRISIS ABANDONED CALLS
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