988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is confidential, free, and available 24/7/365, connecting those experiencing a mental health, substance use, or suicidal crisis with trained crisis counselors.
If you are supporting a patient who is in crisis, refer them to 988 for help.
As a crisis center or 988 contact hub, are you looking for guidance?
What to know
- Access is available in the U.S. through every:
- Landline
- Cellphone
- Voice-over internet device
- Services are available in English and Spanish and use Language Line Solutions to provide translation services in over 250 additional languages.
- Text and chat functions are currently available in English only.
How to access
To access the lifeline for all Washington residents, dial 988.
Native and Strong Lifeline
If you are a Tribal provider, refer your patients to the Native and Strong Lifeline. This service is dedicated to American Indian and Alaska Native people. Calls are answered by Native crisis counselors who are tribal members and descendants closely tied to their communities.
To access the Native and Strong Lifeline:
- Dial 988 and press 4.
- Text “N8V” to 988.
- Chat online: 988lifeline.org
988-related websites
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (SAMHSA): The national 988 website offers a variety of resources on where to go to get help, how to get involved, and what to do as a provider.
- Línea 988 de Prevención del Suicidio y Crisis: Find national resources in Spanish.
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (DOH): Here you’ll find resources specific to Washington.
What happens when someone calls
Washington has three 988 Lifeline crisis centers that answer calls from around the state. Calls are directed to one of these crisis call centers based on location. Calls are routed by area code.
- Volunteers of America of Western Washington
- Frontier Behavioral Health
- Crisis Connections
People contacting 988 are not required to provide any personal data to receive services. Calls may be monitored or recorded for quality assurance or training purposes. The network system has several safeguards to address concerns about privacy.
- Callers are connected to a 988 Lifeline crisis call center.
- They can call, text, or chat 988 on a cellphone, landline, or voice-over internet device.
- The 988 Lifeline crisis centers operate according to national standards and connect with 911 services and regional crisis services.
Crisis response teams
There are no changes to dispatch for designated crisis responders (DCRs) and mobile crisis response teams (MCRTs) or the functions of any other regional crisis service.
Provider resources
The following handouts are available for you to share with your patients or clients.
- Georouting of calls to 988
- Georouting of calls to 988 for tribal partners
- 988 fast facts
- 988 fast facts (Spanish)
- What happens when you dial 988
- What happens when you dial 988 (Spanish)
- Native and Strong Lifeline
- Native and Strong Lifeline (Spanish)
Best practices guidelines
HCA and the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) collaborated to create the Washington 988 Lifeline Crisis Center Best Practices Guidelines.
Contact hubs will assist people who contact 988 by minimizing the use of emergency room services or law enforcement for people in crisis. We received feedback from both community partners and recommendations from the Crisis Response Improvement Strategy (CRIS) Committee to create the guidelines.
*These best practice guidelines do not override any statutes or rules and are not meant to override any agency policies or clinical judgment. These best practice guidelines apply only to 988 Lifeline crisis centers contracted by the Department of Health (DOH) and Regional Crisis Lines contracted by Behavioral Health Administrative Service Organizations (BH-ASOs).