This article was originally published on KFF Health News.
In the year and a half since its launch, 988—the country’s easy-to-remember, three-digit suicide and crisis hotline — has received about 8.1 million calls, texts, and chats. While much attention has been focused on who is reaching out and whether the shortened number has accomplished its goal of making services more accessible to people in emotional distress, curiosity is growing about the people taking those calls.
An estimated 10,000 to 11,000 counselors work at more than 200 call centers nationwide, fielding calls from people experiencing anxiety, depression, or suicidal thoughts.
A newly released report, based on responses from 47 crisis counselors, explored variations in their training and work experiences. The survey “is not large enough to support conclusions” about all 988 staffers, said Dan Fichter, the report’s author and a former program manager for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s 988 team. Still, the first-of-its-kind survey—published by CrisisCrowd, a new noncommercial project focused on raising the voices of 988’s workforce—surfaced interesting snapshots.
For instance, counselors who responded noted wide variations in training, from four days or less to two weeks.
“We know that there are significant workforce challenges for 988 including staffing shortages and burnout, like much of the health care industry is experiencing today,” Monica Johnson, director of SAMHSA’s 988 & Behavioral Health Crisis Coordinating Office, wrote in a statement. “Ensuring that 988 crisis counselors are properly trained and supported to do this life-saving work is critical.”
Different training approaches emerged as one of the report’s central themes. Most counselors who responded said they were trained in four weeks or less and didn’t consider it adequate.
“I understand that even with about 120 hours of training,…
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