Indiana joined the rest of America July 16 in rolling out the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Hoosiers experiencing mental health or substance abuse problems can now dial three numbers to be connected to a crisis intervention specialist.
Rather than replacing the existing National Suicide Hotline, 988 is intended to route callers to local call centers before national ones. Three centers currently take calls in Indiana: Crisis Center, Inc. in Gary, A Better Way in Muncie, and Mental Health America Wabash Valley (MHAWV) in Lafayette.
Brandi Christiansen, president and CEO of MHAWV, Indiana’s oldest crisis hotline, says her call center and others are prepared to take on more contacts. “We’ve had the luxury of preparing and understanding for the past three years that we were moving toward this goal, so we’ve been pretty proactive in making sure that we’ll meet that call volume,” Christiansen said.
The Indiana Family and Social Services Administration says it is adding two new call centers: Mental Health America of Indiana, Indianapolis, and RemedyLIVE, Fort Wayne. FSSA hopes 90 percent of calls will be answered in state by the end of 2023.
A nationwide three-digit crisis hotline number began in 2020 when congress passed the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act. In July 2022, the Federal Communications Commission made 988 available.
Funding for crisis call centers grew during the Biden administration from $24 million to $432 million, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
“It means that across the State of Indiana, there will be a standardized, coordinated safety net of crisis centers that will ensure that a Hoosier is there to help another Hoosier when they call,” Christiansen said. “It’s going to allow centers like ours to increase capacity with paid staff and offer benefits, and to ensure that we have the best possible training.”
Crisis intervention specialists at centers like MHAWV work with callers to find stability and resources. Christiansen says speaking to a call taker in Indiana means callers have access to someone who is culturally responsive and knows the best resources locally available. Crisis lines cannot track a caller’s location and only send emergency services as a last resort.
