Local organizations praise new 988 number for destigmatizing mental health

Earlier this week, a new three-digit number — 988 — was launched to connect individuals with a National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Similar to the use of 911 as an emergency number, 988 will connect individuals experiencing a mental health crisis with accessible care and support.

But, for local organizations, the new number won’t change much for their day-to-day operations.

“We are fortunate to have so many robust behavioral health services available in our community. In recent years, Eagle County has consistently been ahead of the national standard for behavioral health care,” said Casey Wolfington, the senior director of community behavioral health for Vail Health’s Eagle Valley Behavioral Health. “Although we are incredibly excited for the new 988 number, we have been appropriately connecting behavioral health-related 911 calls to Your Hope Center since their inception.”

Carrie Benway, executive director of Your Hope Center, reiterated this point, adding that her first thought about the new phone line was that it was redundant here locally. However, upon further thought, she saw many possible benefits to having a ubiquitous, easy-to-remember phone number.

“I really appreciate both the emphasis on the importance of making that first phone call. This is another resource available for people who are in crisis,” Benway said. “To me, the more resources to help people in crisis, the better.”

However, for other communities that don’t have this existing local crisis line, Benway questioned what implementation would look like.

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“I do wonder about communities that don’t have a Hope Center,” she said. “We are staffed with two clinicians for every 24-hour shift. We’re lucky because we’re prepared, and we’re prepared thanks to the support from our state and our community.”

Regardless, local organizations expressed that the new phone line is a step in the right direction when it comes to destigmatizing mental health and seeking help.

“The step to implement 988 is huge in breaking down stigmas associated with seeking help for mental health,” said Erin Ivie, the executive director of SpeakUp ReachOut, Eagle County’s suicide prevention coalition. “This is also the first step in making sure that those who are seeking help for a mental health crisis receive the care they deserve.”

Avon Police Chief Greg Daly called the implementation of 988 “a great advance in respect to acknowledging that we have not placed enough community resources in mental health supports over the last 20 years.”

That mental health is being prioritized with its own three-digit emergency number, Daly added, is part of a greater “collective mission to destigmatize mental health.”

“It says, on a national level, we as a United States community, acknowledge that we have not been there for our fellow community members like we should’ve been in the past and now we are,” he said. “I don’t care who you are, we all have needed some support throughout our lives and our careers.”

Teresa Haynes, clinical director of Your Hope Center, said that having an additional resource breaks down barriers to calling specifically for mental health support.

“I can’t help but think that potentially there could be people in the community who are having a mental health crisis, who may have had legal problems in their past, maybe they’re struggling with a substance use disorder, maybe there are some things that make them more hesitant to call 911 and to reach out for help,” she said. “Here’s another avenue to reduce the barriers, or just to be more individual-focused and person-centered to meet the individual needs.”

How the number will work

Currently, calls to 988 will be routed to the state’s crisis center hotline, where individuals will be able to talk with crisis counselors and gain access to resources. Calls are routed to local call centers based on the caller’s area code, meaning that even if a caller is in Colorado, if they have an out-of-state area code, it will be routed to a center in that area code.

According to a release from the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration, “Colorado is actively engaged with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Federal Communication Commission, and partners across the country to determine the appropriate solutions for call routing.”

This situation is not unique to Colorado, it added.

“Although less than two percent of calls to the existing statewide crisis line result in deploying in-person care, like mobile crisis teams, ensuring all callers have access to local care is crucial,” said Kelly Bowman, the 988 enterprise and crisis line program manager.

In Eagle County, with a large population of visitors as well as residents coming from other states, fixing this challenge will be helpful in supporting all individuals calling the line.

“It could benefit someone who is visiting our community from somewhere out of town because they don’t know about the Hope Center,” Haynes said. “We have a lot of people come to our community for vacation or a variety of reasons, so it would also be a way to connect to a local resource to know that it exists.”

Wolfington highlighted this point, saying that “the new 988 number will ensure that visitors to our community, who may be less familiar with our local resources, can connect with critical crisis services.”

For now, calls to 988— from a Colorado area code — will “end up being the same,” Haynes said, as when individuals called 1- 800-273-8255.

Calls, she added will be “received statewide and if there’s a need for a local dispatch, we can be dispatched directly from them. I really just see it as a lot easier to remember than 1-800. But we will still be the local team dispatched if there is a need to be in person locally.”

These responses could include law enforcement support with the crisis co-response team. This model of response, Daly added, has “been extremely successful in our county.”

“To me, it’s like night and day in relation to the old way of approaching these situations,” he said.

With the new line, local organizations are prepared to continue moving forward as they have been.

“The demand has always been there. Now it will be easier for individuals to call the simple 988 number,” Ivie said. “I do think that crisis services will see an increase due to the ease of accessibility but I think it is important to remember that the increase is not because 988 exists but because the Lifeline is now easier to access.”

No matter what, Your Hope Center, Benway said, “is staffed to meet the needs” of the community.

With the new number, local mental health organizations are hopeful it will give individuals another avenue to access mental health support and to see that there is no shame or harm in seeking help. But as always, the organizations will continue to push the needle forward.  

“Obviously, this is not the end of the road, this is just a step in that direction,” Daly said. “There still is a huge amount of work to do.”