HHS Releases Initial 988 Data

On July 16, the U.S. transitioned to 988, an easy-to-remember, three-digit number for reaching the 988 Lifeline (formerly the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline). The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released new data that shows that over the first month of the transition to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline (988 Lifeline) there has been a 45% increase in overall volume and a substantial improvement in answer rates and wait times compared to August 2021.   In August 2022, the 988 Lifeline answered 152,000 more contacts (calls, chats and texts) compared to August 2021 and significantly improved how quickly contacts were answered. The average speed to answer across all contacts decreased from 2.5 minutes to 42 seconds.