As the U.S. faces an ongoing mental health crisis, 988 call centers look to add geolocation services

In 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention verified 45,979 suicides; in 2021, the numbers increased to 48,183. Added together, the number of people lost to suicides could fill the Rose Bowl Stadium. When the CDC's provisional suicide counts from 2022 and 2023 are tacked on, the death toll reaches 172,520. 

With those tragic numbers in mind, in 2022 the Biden administration transitioned the country's 10-digit suicide hotline to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which provides an easy-to-remember three-digit number for 24/7 crisis care. But the 988 program has a gaping problem: It lacks geolocation service, reports Kery Murakami of Route 50, which "means callers are being sent to call centers thousands of miles away from where they actually are. . . People dialing into the hotline are sent to a call center based on their area code, not on where they are physically calling from."

The lack of geolocation means 988 counselors lack the capacity to connect a caller with services and follow-up support in another state. Murakami explains, "The issue, according to Rob MacDougall, director of emergency services for Johnson County, Kansas, is that a call center in Kansas isn't equipped, for instance, to connect someone in Florida to the services and help they need." The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Federal Communications Commission are working with cellphone carriers to "test routing calls based on where a person in crisis is generally located." To ensure a level of privacy, call centers don't receive a caller's exact location.

While adding geolocation information will help 988 be more effective, some areas are still working to implement basic 988 services. "Many states are still working out technical kinks or struggling with staffing, which can lead to wait times or not reaching a counselor at all," Murakami reports. "In Florida, a distraught caller may have to sit on hold for 32 seconds, according to SAMHSA data. 

Despite struggles, the lifeline is making progress. "Before 988 was implemented, it might take several minutes to reach someone. Now the average response time has decreased from 2 minutes and 39 seconds to 41 seconds, according to SAMHSA," reports Christina Caron of The New York Times.