When the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline launched a new 988 phone number on July 16, the intention was to support callers from all parts of the country.
But the crisis assistance is far from universal, reports Kaiser Health News.
The level and access of support that the 988 callers receive depends on the callers’ ZIP Code, which rural areas receive less support.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), rural Americans die by suicide at higher rates than urban Americans.
From 2001 to 2015, suicide death rates for rural counties sat at (17.32 per 100,000 people) which was higher than medium or small metropolitan counties (14.86) and large urban counties (11.92), according to the CDC.
But rural residents remain more likely to receive services from a law enforcement personnel rather than a mental health specialist, despite the call service attempting to serve as a 911 alternative.
Over 150 million people in the U.S. — the bulk from rural or partially rural communities — live in mental health professional shortage areas, according to the federal Health Resources and Services Administration.
The communities don’t have enough mental health providers — usually psychiatrists — to serve the population.
To reduce reliance on law enforcement and maximize the intention of the 988 callers program, some states with less access to professionals have proposed solutions.
With the eighth-highest suicide rate among states, South Dakota plans to incorporate volunteer emergency medical services and fire department personnel into the emergency response to 988 calls on the ground.
More than two-thirds of South Dakotans live in mental health professional shortage areas.
The state has only one professional mobile crisis team in South Dakota’s largest city, Sioux Falls. But, according to South Dakota Department of Social Services Cabinet Secretary Laurie Gill, it serves the state’s southeastern corner.
Helpline Center, the South Dakota nonprofit that answers 988 calls, reported that its operators de-escalate 80 percent of calls without deploying a crisis team.
But Vibrant Emotional Health, a nonprofit that co-administers the nationwide lifeline, has projected a fivefold increase in calls for South Dakota in the first year that 988 is in place.
But the state’s next-door neighbor, Iowa, has 87 of its 99 counties with a mobile crisis provider. However, according to Peggy Huppert, executive director of the Iowa chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, most Iowans also live in a mental health professional shortage.
Only 13 states have enacted 988 legislations, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, with varying applications and prescriptions on the continuum of care.
This summary was prepared by James Van Bramer, TCR Associate Editor