This conversation includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know are in crisis, no matter where you are, call or text 988 to connect with a counselor.
What’s behind the massive spike in local calls? And how do counselors help Rhode Islanders who contact the lifeline? Morning host Luis Hernandez talked with Joe Ash, administrative director of the 988 Call Center in Rhode Island.
Interview highlights:
What happens when someone calls 988?
You dial three numbers and within seconds, less than two these days, you’re going to be greeted by one of our crisis counselors on the line. They’re going to give you a warm hello and ask you what’s going on, get a sense of what your needs are, get a sense of what help means to you. For some folks that are feeling really overwhelmed, maybe it starts with a little bit of grounding with the counselor to get yourself to a place where we can engage in a clinical conversation. But it’s really just getting on the line with another human being who is there to greet you with warmth and empathy.
What are the reasons why someone calls 988?
We get calls of all types. We let folks know that this is not only a crisis hotline, but it’s also a “warm line.” We’re here to be there to help deescalate intense crisis situations. But also there if you just need a listening ear and someone to talk to, just someone to kind of hear you out and soundboard with. In any case, we’ll always check for a person’s safety. We’ll always try and provide some additional resources. Because you don’t know what help is out there — you don’t know what supports are there unless you ask or unless somebody’s telling you.
Why have we seen the recent increase in calls?
If you change a number from an 800 number to a three-digit number, already that’s going to really improve the odds that folks are going to call in. It takes a lot of courage to pick up that phone in the first place. So if you only have to dial three numbers, then it does make a massive difference. Beyond that, I think that what folks are seeing is that when they use the line, that it’s something that they can trust. So when folks do have the courage to pick up the line and contact us, and they get that warm greeting from our counselors and they go through the work and they get help for themselves, they start to see, “Oh, this is a resource that I can trust. This is something that’s here to stay.”
Are the people answering the phones paid or volunteers, and do we have enough people?
There might be some folks in the national network who still operate off of a volunteer structure, but we staff, around the clock, 24/7, paid crisis counselors. We have the resources and we have the capacity currently to be answering the line and leading the nation in answer rate, and we also have the leadership in place to make sure that on an ongoing basis that we’re scaling up to the needs of Rhode Island’s community.
If someone calls from a cellphone with an out-of-state number, but they are in Rhode Island, does it get re-routed or does it go to the call center here?
When 988 first launched, the network didn’t have geolocation capability and calls would go to a center that was designated to a certain area code. Now a lot of the big providers have moved away from that and have this geo-routing process where if you’re in and around Rhode Island, your mobile device is gonna ping off of the cell phone tower and that will get you to the closest proximity call center to you.
Over the summer, the Trump administration ended the lifeline special service for LGBTQ+ young people. How is the Rhode Island call center responding?
First, I have to say that it was a gutting of a vital resource. And there’s nothing that we can do overnight to replace that. The things that we would like to pursue in the near and distant future is to make sure that we are staffing folks who have a diversity of lived experience and come from various different communities. And I think the LGBTQ community is such an important one. It’s one that is disproportionately impacted by behavioral health needs. And that’s something that we recognize and it’s going totake a lot to overcome the tragedy that was the elimination of that line because I think it was such an important resource for folks in and outside of Rhode Island.
We’re increasing trainings. Rather than this idea of “cultural competency,” we’re stressing the importance of “cultural humility.” It’s important that we know that we’re not gonna know everything, that we’re not gonna be perfect, but we have to approach with curiosity. We have to approach our community members and help seekers with compassion. And, the more humanity we can induce into our process, the better.
On 988 callers
I would just like to celebrate anybody who has the courage and the strength to pick up the phone and dial those three numbers. A lot of the folks who are answering the line have been down in that hole where you might be at this moment. And we know how much strength it takes to stand up and reach out for help. And we want everyone who has done that to continue to do that. Continue to seek support and we’ll be ready to answer that phone. And for the folks who have never tried it out before, give it a shot. Because you never know what one decision is gonna lead to in terms of positive change in your life, and as much as you think that you don’t have anyone to turn to, and as much as you feel like whatever you’re going through might be a burden to somebody else, we want you to know that you aren’t alone and we want to hear from you.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, no matter where you are, call or text 988 to connect with a counselor.
