EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org.
The calls may come from teens hiding inside high school bathroom stalls, from overwhelmed parents or from widows or widowers now living alone..
But all Rhode Islanders who call 988, the federally run crisis number that went live on July 16, 2022, really need someone to talk to.
Rhode Island callers have a wait time of about 1.9 seconds on average to reach a trained counselor, the lowest nationwide according to state officials.
“Although every call is different, our goal remains the same,” Stephanie Clifford, a clinical supervisor at Rhode Island’s 988 hotline center, said at a Monday morning press event at the State House. “To provide hope, validation and a path forward for each caller beyond the crisis.”
Clifford joined a long roster of state leaders and a former New England Patriot and two-time Superbowl champion to commemorate 988 Day and Rhode Island’s robust uptake of the suicide prevention and crisis help hotline. The free-to-call program was designed as an easy-to-remember alternative to the previous 1-800 number for callers in crisis. The service’s nationally scaffolded network of help centers connects callers via phone, text or chat to state-funded, local crisis centers, where counselors can provide referrals, resources or simple conversation to ease a troubled mind.
Clifford offered an anecdotal picture for the crowd: “An elderly woman in her late 80s will call for the first time on a Sunday afternoon, her voice soft and apologetic, ‘I’m sorry to bother you. I just haven’t spoken to anyone in three days.’ Or an older gentleman who’s deeply grieving, telling a counselor, ‘I just wanted to hear another voice.’”
Rhode Island’s 988 center — which is based in East Providence, right near the Seekonk, Massachusetts, border — has received 28,582 calls since it went live in 2022. Another 35,745 calls were forwarded to the call center by predecessor 414-LINK, making for a total of 64,327 calls answered by the call center since its inception. Nearly all calls that originate in Rhode Island — 98% — are answered by in-state operators.
In the past 12 months, the lowest number of calls received was 768, in April.
Those callers aren’t always experiencing suicidal thoughts or wishes to harm themselves, although suicidal thinking does appear in 53% of callers according to state data. (According to state data, that metric was first collected in Jan. 2023.)
Emceeing Monday’s event was Margie O’Brien, the director of RI Capitol TV, the state-run broadcasting service which thoroughly covers all happenings at the State House. In her opening remarks, O’Brien recalled using the 411 directory assistance number as a “tween” growing up in Natick, Massachusetts, a simple phone call opened up a world of information.
“You could dial it on your rotary phone, and you could get the phone number of that cute boy in your science class or an address for your parents to drop you off at a birthday party this weekend,” O’Brien said.
The 988 hotline, O’Brien emphasized, can be an even sturdier lifeline for people in need. and an accessible one, added U.S. Sen. Jack Reed in his turn at the podium. Reed, who helped spearhead the legislation that created the national hotline, characterized the service as one example of a wise adage gleaned from his military days: “KISS,” or, “Keep it simple, stupid.”
The previous crisis hotline number, Reed said, was “a 1-800 something, something, something no one can remember, particularly in a crisis.”
Reed praised the tiniest state for having the highest answer rate in the country. He then took a broader stance to swing at President Donald Trump’s administration and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as examples of what not to do when it comes to mental health funding, especially for LGBTQ+ youth.
In July, the Trump administration ended the LGBTQ-specific counseling option that allowed callers to press “3” when dialing 988.
“Now, if it’s not bad enough, Health and Human Services Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — and I emphasize ‘Junior’ — has proposed eliminating SAMHSA, that’s the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Agency,” Reed said. “We’re going to take out the experts in the federal government and just let everyone go their own way, I suppose.”
Reed thought it ironic that Trump — who signed the 2020 law creating the 988 hotline — is now presiding over cuts that threaten its reach, which he dubbed “cheap political gimmicks.”
The “Press 3” option that once connected callers to national counselors specializing in LGBTQIA+ youth issues remains disconnected in Rhode Island, confirmed Karen Jeffreys, a spokesperson for Horizon Healthcare Partners, the consortium of agencies that coordinates the 988 network in Rhode Island.
Those calls are now routed directly to Rhode Island’s crisis counselors, Jeffreys said, and staff have undergone additional training to support LGBTQ+ youth. Counselors can also refer young people to the Trevor Project hotline, Jeffreys added.
Gov. Dan McKee, Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos, U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, U.S. Rep. Gabe Amo, and Rhode Island Senate President Valarie Lawson also attended the event, with everyone except Matos, who had to leave early, speaking to the crowd. Rep. Joseph Solomon Jr., a Warwick Democrat, attended and spoke on behalf of House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi.
Men wanted
In Rhode Island, the 988 service has seen a 212% increase in calls since its inception. O’Brien construed that as a positive and told the audience it translates to more people being willing to seek help when they need it most. To close out the event, O’Brien proposed a challenge: Tell three friends about 988, one for each digit in the number.
“Just like the Fabergé shampoo commercial from yesteryear,” O’Brien said. “Hopefully they will tell three friends and so on and so on and so on, and the word will get out that help is available.”
Also speaking at the event with hopes of evangelizing to new crowds was Tully Banta-Cain, the former New England Patriots linebacker. After he strode to the podium, Banta-Cain took in the opulent surroundings of the State Room and commented, “This place is beautiful,” said Banta-Cain, who is a member of the Horizon Healthcare Foundation.
He encouraged the audience to think of 988 as a teammate they can call when “things get tough.” Football has long been his stress relief, he told the crowd, which is why he started the Beach Football League to give athletes and young people an outlet.
“No matter how strong or successful someone may look on the outside,” Banta-Cain cautioned, “wWe all face challenges on the inside. That’s why resources like 988 are so important. Just like we train our bodies, we have to train and take care of our minds.”
Darrell Waldron of the Rhode Island Indian Council also emphasized the room’s lavish decorations, albeit in a different way. He motioned at the portraits of “men of war” lining the State Room, and linked the omnipresence of war in American history to generations of “suppressed historical trauma” and its present-day toll on Native communities.
“Every Native event that I’ve been involved with, there’s someone or many who have a family member (who) died of suicide,” Waldron said.
Waldron also pointed out that there weren’t many men in the State Room Monday morning. The 60-something chairs and standing room were mostly packed with women, Waldron observed.
“Men need to get involved,” he said, calling it “difficult to get men into mental health.”
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
