Some Disaster Distress Helpline Call Traffic Jumps During COVID-19

The Disaster Distress Helpline had a big jump in traffic attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, though other emergency helplines haven't had increases, administrators told us. The pandemic could intensify a push for implementation of 988 as the nationwide three-digit suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline because of the need for an easy-to-remember accessible service, said Vibrant Emotional Health President Kim Williams. Lawmakers are pushing for Capitol Hill leaders to include the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act (HR-4194/S-2661) in the next COVID-19 stimulus legislative package.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Director John Draper said calls to the national network of 170-plus local call centers aren't increasing, but pandemic-related concerns "are ubiquitous." The lifeline said it received more than 2.2 million calls and 102,000 chats in 2019.

The Disaster Distress Helpline, a sub-line of the suicide lifeline, had call volumes up 891% in March over March 2019, said Williams. Vibrant administers the suicide lifeline. The disaster helpline -- providing counseling and support to people in emotional distress due to a disaster -- is promoted by federal agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Federal Emergency Management Agency in times of disaster, Williams said. She said some suicide lifeline network local call centers are having call traffic increases when local or state crisis lines get promotion. It said the disaster helpline received more than 13,700 calls and texts in 2018, the most recent year for which data was available.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline emailed it hasn't had big increases in contact volume due to COVID-19, but that it wouldn't expect to. It said with survivors and abusers in proximity, it can be less safe to seek support. It said historically a significant spike in contact volume after other disasters such as earthquakes and the 2008 economic downturn came once life began to returned to normal. It said when people started returning to work and school, they had safety and privacy to seek support. The hotline received 622,695 calls, texts and chats in 2019.

Call centers are largely now relying on staffers working from home. The domestic violence hotline said its team of more than 150 is working remotely instead of at its Austin headquarters. Draper said a minority of lifeline call centers kept in-office staffing. He said remote work hasn't diminished or affected its capacity for handling calls. Williams said some but not all the five disaster helpline call centers, which are also part of the suicide lifeline call center network, are working remotely.

Centerstone, a community-based mental health and addiction services provider, already operated its crisis call center remotely, so shelter-in-place orders had no effect on operations, said Becky Stoll, vice president-crisis and disaster management. More challenging was therapy services' move to remote offerings, which involved about 3,500 therapy providers who could switch to operating from their homes, she said.

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., told us Monday she and Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., are continuing to seek S-2661’s inclusion in the next COVID-19 bill. HR-4194/S-2661 would give the FCC a one-year deadline to finish the nationwide upgrade of the legacy switches to support the new 988 code. The measure would allow states and localities to impose fees to pay for it. The Senate Commerce Committee advanced S-2661 in December (see 1912110038). The House Communications Subcommittee did the same for HR-4194 in March (see 2003100067). A full House Commerce Committee markup of the measure hasn’t been scheduled amid the pandemic. The FCC didn't comment Tuesday.

“We’re pushing for both” S-2661’s inclusion in the next pandemic measure or for the Senate to pass it by unanimous consent, Baldwin said. She, Gardner and 38 other lawmakers earlier wrote Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and other leaders. “This three-digit hotline would play a critical role in saving the lives of many vulnerable Americans who are facing mental health emergencies during this period of isolation and uncertainty,” Gardner, Baldwin and other lawmakers said in the letter. Other signers included HR-4194 lead sponsors Reps. Chris Stewart, R-Utah, and Seth Moulton, D-Mass.

Many people "are feeling alone, stressed, and depressed and don’t know where to turn for help" amid the pandemic, Stewart said in a statement to us. Passage of HR-4194 via the next legislative package would make "it easier for Americans to access critical mental health resources. Even if we cannot be physically close, we can still be there for one another. 9-8-8 provides one more essential link." If "your house is on fire, you don’t have to look up the fire department’s number," Moulton said in a statement to us. "You just dial 911. It should be the same for mental health emergencies.” It's "time to make 988 the number everyone in America knows to call in an emergency or with urgent questions about mental health care," he said.

Editor's note: This is one in an occasional series of articles about how the novel coronavirus is affecting telecom and consumers. Other articles focused on how telecom field technicians and their customers are keeping safe (see 2004100038) and on how broadband use has changed (see 2004060038 and 2003190042). Another ongoing series has focused on 911 (see 2004130032 and 2003180033).