Public Health

Biden administration, Philly officials announce launch of 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

The new suicide prevention hotline will make connecting with a professional in times of crisis as easy as calling or texting three numbers.

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney during a 988 hotline discussion at The Consortium, Inc.

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney during a 988 hotline discussion at The Consortium, Inc. HHS Livestream

Philadelphia officials joined representatives from the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs and the Federal Communications Commission Friday morning to discuss the implementation of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. 

Beginning Saturday, July 16, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline will officially take the number 9-8-8, modeled after 911. The move allows people suffering from a mental health crisis to call or text the three-digit number and makes connecting to a trained mental health professional more accessible. 

“Why is that so important? Well, it's really easy to remember. Everyone everywhere in this country can access it. It's a number they won't forget,” said Jessica Rosenworcel, chair of the Federal Communications Commission. “They’ll be able to text using those three digits. And we all know for young people … picking up and calling on the phone just might not be their native language. Texting is.”

Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough noted the importance of this resource for veterans in crisis, who can press 1 after dialing 9-8-8 to connect to veteran-specific care. He thanked the Biden administration and Congress for boosting funding for critical mental health services. 

“We are expanding our workforce by nearly 900 people so that we can manage the anticipated increase in calls as the veteran crisis line on the 988 line, which we anticipate will increase demand by over 100% given the ease of the (phone) number,” McDonough said. “The funding that has allowed us to hire… (and) upgrade our technology backbone such that our call centers can handle that surge that’s coming in 24/7 is a terrific opportunity for us.”

Jill Bowen, commissioner of Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual Disability Services, said the city’s crisis line received 21% more calls year-over-year through 2021 and that an even greater increase is anticipated now that a universal number will be implemented. 

“The current system responds to the 800-273-8255 today – that is the national suicide line. It also responds to 215-685-6440, which is the call directly into the PCL line. Well, if you're in distress, that's 20 numbers … (but) as of tomorrow, that's three. And that is everything.”

The same way that we were able to propose ideas leading up to this change, that has to continue.
Consortium CEO John White

Officials including HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and regional director Dr. Ala Stanford met for a tour of The Consortium, Inc., a nonprofit community mental health center that provides adult, children and addiction support services in Philadelphia, alongside the roundtable discussion. 

Consortium CEO John White, a former state representative, City Council member and state welfare secretary, noted the role of the city’s dozen community mental health centers, but emphasized that this is just the start. 

“The reform is not done. The dialogue should not stop,” White said. “The same way that we were able to propose ideas leading up to this change, that has to continue. On a daily basis, providers are finding different areas, different situations that are foreign, and they've got to make up their minds on the spot how you're going to respond.”

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.