INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana officials are renewing their push to make Hoosiers aware of the 988 suicide prevention hotline, although more funding will be needed to further expand the state’s crisis response system.
One year after the federal crisis number was rebranded and relaunched as 988, Indiana reported one of the highest in-state response rates for calls. The state’s crisis hotline answers nearly 4,000 calls per month.
Dr. Daniel Rusyniak, secretary of the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (FSSA), said during a news conference Tuesday that “with more awareness, we’re going to receive additional calls.”
For now, that’s a good thing, he said. Many Hoosiers still aren’t aware that 988 exists — meaning they aren’t being connected to necessary, sometimes life-saving resources.
“Since we launched 988 last July, we have seen tremendous benefits already — both in the number of folks who are reaching out to call to us that we can help, but also in our numbers. He noted, too, that Indiana routinely is in the top five states for connecting callers with a local counselor,” Rusyniak said.
“I think everyone, at some point, is touched by mental health crises, suicides, substance use disorder,” he continued. “And so I do think what we’re doing is so impactful.”
A September 2022 report from the Indiana Behavioral Health Commission estimated that one in five Hoosiers experience mental illness each year and that for every four Hoosiers treated for mental illness, one additional Hoosier is left untreated.
Between 2011 and 2021, the age-adjusted suicide death rate per 100,000 residents jumped 22% in the Hoosier State, from 13.5 to 16.4 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The 988 line launched nationwide in July 2022 as the new number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Since then, calls have skyrocketed, jumping from 161,678 dial-ins in February 2022 to 404,194 in February 2023. Texts to the line have also increased by 700%.
The federal government made the initial investment but states are responsible for funding the local call centers. Indiana’s crisis system has so far been funded with $133.6 million in federal funds, along with an additional $100 million provided by state lawmakers earlier this year in the current two-year budget.
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