California's suicide hotline answer rate lags behind U.S. average

Nearly two years after the rollout of a revamped U.S. suicide hotline , California trails the national average for 988 crisis call answer rate.

The big picture: Amid nationwide concern over worsening mental health , the federal government has given states over $1 billion to build out the 988 hotline since Congress passed a bipartisan bill in 2020, with the expectation that states would establish their own long-term funding to operate call centers and crisis services.

• But those efforts have been uneven, contributing to significantly lower response times in certain states. As with much of the health care system, the level of crisis services available to people depends greatly on where they live.

By the numbers: In May, about 84% of 988 calls in California were answered — over 31,600 out of roughly 37,800 calls.

• That's lower than the national average of 88% and mental health advocates' goal of 90%. Other states' answer rates range from 66% in Illinois to 97% in Montana.
• California's average speed to answer calls in May was 33 seconds, compared to the national average of 36 seconds.
• A caller may be put on hold while the hotline attempts to connect with the closest crisis center using the caller's area code, or re-routed to a national back-up center if no one is available.
• There are 13 crisis centers in California.

What they're saying: "Transformation of this scale takes time and long-term success depends heavily on an ongoing coordinated effort by the federal government, states, territories, tribes, and the network of more than 200 crisis contact centers," a U.S. Health and Human Services spokesperson said.

• "We want a system where everybody has a comparable experience. It seems to me we're still a few years from that," said Chuck Ingoglia, CEO of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing.

Where it stands: Calls, texts and chats to the hotline are up since it relaunched as an easy-to-remember three-digit service in July 2022.

• San Francisco Suicide Prevention recorded a 30% increase in call volume in the helpline's first year in service.

State of play: Though all states use surcharges on cellphone bills to fund 911 services, just 10 states — including California — have done the same for 988 so far, according to a new report from mental health advocacy group Inseparable shared first with Axios.

• Several states have used general funds to make short-term investments in 988. California is among 15 that have applied for and received temporarily boosted federal Medicaid funding for mobile crisis services, according to the report.
• Over 4,300 people died by suicide in California in 2022, per the National Center for Health Statistics.

What's next: States and cities are moving toward integrated 988 and 911 services , said KFF researcher Heather Saunders, who tracks policies around the hotline.

• Federal regulators are also looking to require that 988 calls are routed to a person's actual location , rather than their area code, to better connect them with nearby resources.