Facts about the 988 mental-health hotline that goes live Sat.

Starting Saturday, July 16, Americans struggling with mental health, suicide, and/or substance use can call 988 for emergency help.

Callers who dial 988 will be connected with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which has been 1-800-273-TALK for many years. Then line has seen a sharp spike in calls in the past few years, "especially as the coronavirus crisis has brought on what some experts are calling a mental-health pandemic," Daniela Altimari reports for Route Fifty. "The suicide prevention line is staffed by behavioral health experts, who are far better equipped to help someone in distress than the police are. . . . Unlike the 911 system, 988 will be staffed not by public-safety dispatchers but by trained mental-health professionals who will listen to callers and provide resources for additional help."

Many states don't have the capacity to handle the influx of calls, texts and chats, and are trying to downplay expectations for the hotline. "While some states answer virtually every contact, others route more than half their calls out-of-state to 15 backup centers funded through the Lifeline network," Krista Mahr and Sarah Owermohle report for Politico. "The feds are aware of the problem. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra complained earlier this month that most states haven’t secured the funding and workforce needed for an expected surge in calls once 988 goes live. HHS has sent new funds to help states expand their crisis networks in recent months, but federal officials say few states have kept their end of the bargain and implemented long-term funding."

Brian Hepburn, executive director of the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, "cautioned that the public shouldn’t expect that 'a switch will be flipped' on July 16 and suddenly decades of lacking investment in mental health will be reversed," Altimari reports. "He also pointed out that it took a full decade after the creation of the 911 emergency dispatch line in 1967 for the system to be fully operational." Hepburn said, "It’s probably going to take five years for 988 to be fully implemented across the country. It’s going to take a while to get everything going."