You know what? I’ve been going on and on about negative stuff. Let’s hear about some good news.

Today I want to talk about 988.

Hi, everyone, and welcome back to Today I Want to Talk About… (TIWTTA), a series where I take a topic and break it down into something digestible. And today I’m talking about some long-overdue news: the 988 emergency hotline.

What is 988?

988 is a new emergency number set to go live on July 16 of this year. Everyone knows 911 is the number you call for emergency situations and some people know there are local non-emergency numbers you can call for situations that don’t require police. 988 is a first: an emergency number exclusively dedicated to mental health emergencies.

How Will It Work?

988 is being backed by over 200 crisis centers across the United States. Once it is online, it will work virtually the same way as 911. When a person dials 988, they’ll be connected to a local crisis center. This endeavor is closely tied to the National Suicide Hotline, and a 988 caller will be connected to local counselors, the same way they would by dialing the suicide hotline.

In terms of funding, even though 988 is being rolled out now, it was approved in 2020 under the Trump administration. It’s funded by the Department of Health and Human Services with money allotted to the cause by the American Rescue Plan. The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act, the legislation that got 988 off the ground, gave state governments the green light to point telecommunication fees in the direction of 988 to bolster the money the national government is putting into it.

What’s the Big Deal?

On the world stage, the United States is tragically behind the curve in the conversation on mental health. In an article on 988, the National Alliance on Mental illness said that 1 in 4 people fatally shot by police between 2015 and 2020 were in the midst of a mental health crisis when the police were called to the scene. In addition, 44% of people in jail and 37% of people in prison have some kind of mental illness. And the very nature of prison not only means mental health resources are negligible to nonexistent, but that incarceration is guaranteed to worsen symptoms of mental illness.

Everyone has bad mental health at one point or another, and everyone has the right to good mental healthcare, in the same way everyone has the right to healthcare. 988 is a potential first step for a new, better conversation on mental health in America.

I started drafting this post before the news about Roe v. Wade‘s overturning, so I’m fully aware that the news about 988 feels like small potatoes compared to that news. So take heart, dear reader. Hope springs eternal. Until next time.