After a spike in calls to a national suicide crisis line, some federal lawmakers are pushing for more support for that lifeline.
According to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there were 45% more calls to the national Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in August 2022 than there were in August 2021.
"The experts tell us that it is, indeed, due to the change into a three-digit number," said Sen. Susan Collins during a Wednesday interview.
The hotline changed from a 10-digit number to 988 this July.
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"I do think it's attributable to changing to 988," the Republican senator said. "We need to assess whether our efforts to reach people who are in the midst of a mental health crisis are successful or not. Is there more that we can do?"
To that point, Collins' office announced Wednesday that she and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat from Wisconsin, want Congress to look at a proposal they have drafted called the "988 Coordination and Improvement Act."
More on the 988 lifeline
According to Collins, part of the proposal would put $10 million a year over the next five years into "steady funding" to make sure the crisis line is available to people 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Other parts of the plan would create more oversight of the lifeline within Congress and HHS so that officials can assess whether or not as many people as possible who need support from 988 know what it is and how to access it.
"A lack of knowledge about it needs to be addressed through a public service ad campaign," Collins said. "We want to help connect people to the help they may need when they're experiencing a crisis in their lives."
Because of Congress' calendar for the remainder of 2022, the proposal would likely not be acted on until the very end of the year or in 2023.
Collins also acknowledged on Wednesday that there are other ways that mental health must be addressed in America, including finding ways to combat what she says is a nationwide shortage of mental health professionals that is especially acute in places like Maine.
"We're also seeing a real increase in families needing mental health and emotional support for their children and for themselves," she said.
If you or someone you know needs help, please contact the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling 988, call the National Suicide Prevention hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting ‘Home’ to 741741, anytime.
