Does 988 call the police? Data shows that 1% of mental health crisis calls are received

Many people in mental health crisis fear that if they dial 988law enforcement may show up or they may be forced to go to the hospital.

But sending such an “unintended emergency” happens to about 1% of callers, according to new data from the administrator of Vibrant Emotional Health. 988 A lifeline for suicides and mental health crises.

“Involuntary intervention is a last resort. We want to make sure we cooperate and communicating with people in crisis and empowering them so we don’t have to go in that direction,” said Christopher Drapeau, director of research and evaluation at Vibrant.

A Pew Charitable Trust survey last year cited in Vibrant’s white paper found that about one in five adults worry that law enforcement will be called after them or that they may be forced to go to the hospital because of using the 988 number.

According to the 988 policy, counselors are recommended to use “least invasive interventions” to respond to suicide attempts. But if other de-escalation attempts fail, counselors can call other emergency services, such as involuntary rescue.

988 advisors cannot track the exact location of callers. But the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA, which oversees Vibrant and the hotline, says in “rare circumstances” counselors can ask 911 dispatchers to use “geolocation services” to try to locate where the call is coming from. .

The data does not reveal what percentage of “unintentional” rescues relied on responding to calls to police rather than paramedics or other emergency responders.

“We haven’t been this transparent in the past. So we want to acknowledge that and show people that this is what we have,” Drapeau told CBS News about the white paper he wrote.

Drapeau said the white paper is his team’s first performance evaluation of the 988 and the most comprehensive review of the subject to date. The idea for the report came from discussions with SAMHSA officials.

Law enforcement agencies have often assisted 911 dispatchers responding to suicide attempts. Advocacy groups have called for more jurisdictions to fund “mobile crisis teams” that can respond to suicide attempts with medics and behavioral health professionals instead of police.

“If someone tried to kill themselves while on the call and suffered an injury as a result, you have to respond to that. So I don’t know if we could completely eliminate all involuntary interventions,” Drapeau said.

“These numbers may not be perfect”

Vibrant’s white paper focuses on two snapshots of data, largely dating back to when the line was 1-800 before the nationwide launch of the easier-to-remember 988 shortcut to reaching a counselor during a mental health crisis.

The paper’s largest snapshot still includes only about 2 million calls made between 2019 and 2023, a fraction of the current more than 200 local crisis centers that underpin the network.

For context, more than 400,000 calls were routed through the 988 network in July alone.

“We recognize the limitations of this data. These numbers may not be perfect. They may be different. If we had all the individual center data, if we had a more accurate definition, maybe that would change. But today, it appears that the vast majority of 988 calls do not involve emergency services. intervention,” Drapeau said.

Of those nearly 2 million calls, the white paper answers about 2%, resulting in both “voluntary” and “involuntary” emergency services being dispatched in response to calls.

Callers classified by counselors as “immediately suicidal,” a much narrower group, were sent to an ambulance more quickly.

A quarter of them received a “voluntary deportation” – with the consent of the callers -, another quarter received an “involuntary” rescue.

Better data is in the works. While the current numbers are based on a combination of requirements and voluntary reporting, a Vibrant spokesperson said it is working with SAMHSA to develop a national standard for what metrics all centers must report on in the future.

The plan, drafted by SAMHSA in April, requires states to provide the agency with data on the number of contacts that result in law enforcement dispatches.

Another proposed evaluation by Vibrant seeks to refine the definition of when to consider a caller an “imminent threat” and how to handle those cases. Drapeau said that evaluation will likely take a few years to complete and help them figure out how to shift from inadvertent interventions to more cooperation.