Nationwide — The new nationwide 988 mental health helpline went live Saturday, July 16th, although some complications still remain. The idea is to give you an easy number to remember when you need immediate mental health support from a trained counselor or local crisis intervention services. Mental health advocates and law enforcement leaders have pushed for the number. Black Hawk County Sheriff Tony Thompson says it can take people directly to the source of help without having to go through law enforcement.
But rolling out the service is proving to be complicated. The federal legislation left 988 up to states to implement with federal funding. But it also allows states to impose a new tax on phone lines to fund call centers and even crisis services. Many states, including Iowa, use this kind of tax to help fund 911 services, but Iowa has not introduced any legislation to fund 988. Marissa Eyanson with the Iowa Department of Human Services says the state is relying on federal funding to see what real-time demand for it looks like.
Eyanson says it’s unlikely that DHS will have enough data available to review in time to come up with a legislative plan by the next session, which starts in January 2023. Organizations that are contracted by the state to set up the statewide 988 call centers have concerns about this, including CommUnity Crisis Services and Food Bank CEO Sarah Nelson in Iowa City.
Emily Blomme at is CEO of Foundation 2 Crisis Services in Cedar Rapids. She says it’s been challenging to recruit the extra crisis counselors they need with the funding she has.
Both organizations currently run call centers for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. But Blomme says estimates provided by the national lifeline projects calls to jump significantly under 988. And so far she’s hired less than half the additional staff she would have liked to have in place by the launch. Eyanson of DHS says the agency has worked with Vibrant to review that estimate and provide its two contractors with enough funding for the first two years.
If you need help you can call 988 anytime.
