3C SESSION 

SAMHSA’s 988 Crisis Systems Response Training and Technical

Assistance Center: Crisis Community Collaboration 

December 20th, 2023 
Crisis Systems Response TTAC 

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) 

has selected Altarum to provide training and technical assistance support 

to states, territories, tribal organizations, and community partners across the 988 

Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and crisis continuum of care. Along with our partners, 

W2 Consulting Corporation and Change Matrix, LLC, who have extensive 

experience with crisis services, technical assistance, and health equity, the 

Crisis Systems Response Training and Technical Assistance Center (TTAC) was 

formed to support the continued growth of 988 Lifeline and build a more robust 

crisis care system. 
Agenda 

• Welcome 

• Introductions 

• Updates from the 988 & Behavioral Health Crisis 

Coordinating Office 

• Presentation from Vibrant 

• Mindful Minute 

• Moderated Question & Answer session related 

to the information shared 

• Time for reflections about webinars and 

activities within the last month 

• Preview of activities to come 
SAMHSA 988 & BHCCO Leads 

Monica Johnson, M.A., 

LPC 

Director of the 988 & 

Behavioral Health Crisis 

Coordinating Office 

John Palmieri, M.D., 

M.H.A. 

Deputy Director of the 988 & 

Behavioral Health Crisis 

Coordinating Office 

Jill D. Mays, M.S., LPC 

Division Director of Crisis 

System Transformation for 

the 988 & Behavioral Health 

Crisis Coordinating Office 

James Wright 

Division Director of Crisis 

Operations, Office of the 

Assistant Secretary 
SAMHSA’s Priorities

Equity 

Trauma-Informed Informed Approaches Approaches

Commitment Commitment to Data and Evidence to Data and Evidence

Recovery 

SAMHSA’s

Priorities 

Preventing Substance 

Use and 

Overdose

Use and 

Overdose 

Promoting Resilience 

and Emotional Health 

for Children, Youth, 

and Families

Promoting Resilience 

and Emotional Health 

for Children, Youth, 

and Families 

Enhancing Access to 

Suicide Prevention 

and Mental Health 

Services

Enhancing Access to 

Suicide Prevention 

and Mental Health 

Services 

Integrating Behavioral 

and Physical

Healthcare

Integrating Behavioral 

and Physical 

Healthcare 

Strengthening the 

Behavioral Health 

Workforce

Strengthening the 

Behavioral Health 

Workforce 
988 Grant Programs and Collaborations 

SAMHSA 

Vibrant 

Emotional 

Health 

Crisis 

Centers 

State, 

Territory, 

Tribe 

SAMHSA 

Cooperative 

Agreement 

Lifeline 

Network 

Agreement 

Contract 

(State/Territory) 

MOU (Tribe) 

SAMHSA 

Cooperative 

Agreement 

New Grants: 

• 988 State/Territory Cohort 2 

• 988 Tribal Response Cohort 2 

• 988 Crisis Center Follow Up (10 cooperative 

agreements) 

• All awarded States, territories, Tribes, and 

crisis centers can be found at: 

www.samhsa.gov/grants 
The Role of Vibrant as Network Administrator 

SAMHSA funds Vibrant Emotional Health, a national non-profit, to manage, 

enhance, and strengthen the Lifeline. The Lifeline routes individuals in the United 

States to a network of more than 200 certified crisis centers, which link to local 

emergency, mental health, and social services resources. Vibrant must maintain 

the current Lifeline infrastructure, activities, and network of crisis centers 

including, but not limited to, all telephone, chat, and text-based services. 

Challenges/Opportunities 

• Scope & Role Clarification 

• Relationship w/Crisis Contact Centers 

• Rapid internal growth 

• Navigating state government systems 

• Data Discrepancies 
Snapshot of 988 Lifeline Federal Funding: 2007–2023 

0 

100 

200 

300 

400 

500 

600 

700 

800 

FY 2007 FY 2012 FY 2015 FY 2018 FY 2021 FY 2022 FY 2023 

Federal Funding to Lifeline ($, millions) 

Not exhaustive – highlights select funding years and does not include all supplemental funding awards 

$502M*** 

$152M sent to states and 

territories and $17M sent to 

tribes to build staffing across 

states’ local crisis call centers 

through grants. 

$2.9M $3.7M $6.2M $6.6M $23M* 

$432M** 

*$23M includes the President’s FY 2021 budget allocation (excludes 3–year COVID supplement of $32M) 

**$432M includes the President’s FY 2022 budget allocation of $102M, $180M from the American Rescue Plan, and $150M from the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act 

***$502M includes the FY 2023 Omnibus Appropriations for the Lifeline allocation of $502M and an additional $200M funding 

for states, territories, and tribes to build local capacity 
988 Lifeline: Expand Access 

Increased support for priority populations 

• Spanish text and chat services, where Spanish 

speakers in crisis can reach trained, culturally 

competent crisis counselors. 

• Specialized call, text, and chat supports for 

LGBTQI+ youth and young adults under the 

age of 25. 

• Videophone services for people who are Deaf or 

hard of hearing and for whom videophone is a 

preferred method of communication. 

• Dedicated, culturally competent services for 

American Indians and Alaska Natives. 
A Few Operational Priorities in FY2023 

1. Complaints, Compliments, Stories of Service 

2. Improving data collection, including of individual in suicidal crisis* 

3. Improving Georouting of 988 contacts* 

4. Evaluating Effectiveness of 988 Training for all Crisis Centers and Services* 

5. Improving Connectivity of 988 Crisis Centers and Mobile Crisis Teams 

6. Identification of Reasons for Connections, Self-Reported Outcomes of Service, and 

Improving Connections to Continued Care and Follow-Up in Cases of Increased Risk 

Post-Contact and technical disruptions to service* 

7. Performance and Quality Improvement* 

*Builds on FY23 Appropriation Requirements 
Guest Speaker 

Tia Dole, Ph.D. 

Chief 988 Lifeline Officer 

• Tia Dole, Ph.D., is the Chief 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Officer at Vibrant Emotional 

Health. Dr. Dole is a licensed clinical psychologist and a long-time advocate for the rights 

of those with intersectional identity. Prior to stepping into the role of Chief 988 Officer, Dr. 

Dole was the Executive Director of The Steve Fund, the nation’s only organization focused 

on the mental health and emotional well-being for young people of color. Additionally, Dr. 

Dole was the Chief Clinical Operations Officer at The Trevor Project, the world’s largest 

suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ youth. Dr. Dole oversaw 

all of The Trevor Project’s crisis services programs as well as their volunteer community 

and increased their impact by a factor of four. 

• After completing her bachelor’s degree at Carleton College, Dr. Dole received her Master’s 

degree in Developmental Psychopathology from Columbia University (Teacher’s College), 

and she received a Fulbright Fellowship to study Forensic Psychology in Switzerland. She 

then completed her doctorate in clinical psychology at Fordham University. Dr. Dole is a 

published author and sits on several committees. One of her passions is normalizing 

mental health conditions within communities of color, LGBTQ communities, and helping 

people get access to services. She is based in New York/New Jersey 
SAMHSA’s 988 CSR TTAC: 

Monthly Crisis Community DECEMBER 2023 

988 and the National Lifeline 
Disclaimer 

The views expressed in written conference materials or 

publications and by speakers and moderators do not 

necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department 

of Health and Human Services, nor does the mention of 

trade names, commercial practices, or organizations 

imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. 
988: The Suicide & Crisis Lifeline 

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provides emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or 

emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, across the United States, via 

phone, text and chat. 

• Funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 

(SAMHSA) 

• Administered by Vibrant Emotional Health since its inception in 2005 

• Network of over 215 independently operated centers across 56 States and Territories 
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Timeline 

National Suicide Prevention Act 

becomes law. It requires a feasibility 

study into designating a three-digit 

dialing code for a national suicide 

prevention and mental health crisis 

hotline system. 

Launch of the National 

Suicide Prevention 

Lifeline 

Received 46K calls in the 

first year 

2005 

2007 

Veterans Crisis 

Line Support 

SAMHSA and VA 

partner to access the 

Veterans Crisis Line 

by “Press 1”

2013 

Chat Services Added 

Lifeline adds an English-only 

chat service. 

2018 

2020 

National Suicide Hotline 

Designation Act of 2020 

becomes law. It requires the 

FCC to designate 988 as the 

universal number for a national 

suicide prevention and mental 

health crisis hotline. 

July 2022 

988 Launch 

The country transitions to 

988, an easy-to-remember, 

three-digit dialing code. 

Expanded to include Text 

July 

2023 

Launch of an 

LGBTQI+ 

Subnetwork - follows 

a successful pilot line 

in September 2022 

Spanish Text & Chat 

September 

2023 

Launch ASLNow 

988 Videophone 

for deaf and hardof-hearing 

individuals 
988 Lifeline Administration 

Vibrant 

Unified 

Platform Routing 

Telephony 

Network 

Performance 

Wellness of 

Network Quality Crisis Continuum* 
Vibrant’s Primary Stakeholders 

SAMHSA 

Crisis 

Centers 

State 

Entities 

Crisis 

Continuum 

The 

Public/ 

Contact 
How the 988 Lifeline Works 
The 988 Lifeline Today 

The Network 

Number of local centers: 

July 2022: 205 

July 2023: 215 

Number of national backup centers: 

July 2022: 15 

October 2023: 11 

Subnetworks: 

● Voice - 11 

● Chat & Text - 20 

● LGBTQI+ Pilot Centers - 7 

● Spanish Centers - 6 

● ASLNOW - 2 

Performance 

Contacts served: 

~6m Contacts answered since July 2022 increase 

of over 2 million contacts on the previous year 

Wait times reduced: 

From 2 minutes and 39 seconds down to 

37 seconds 

October 2023: 

● *46% increase in calls 

● *141% increase in chats 

● *1135% increase in text 

*first year percentage increase 
988 Demand and Performance - Overall 
Strategic Priorities 

• Launch a national awareness campaign to inform, educate and increase 

outreach of 988 Lifeline services for underrepresented communities in 2024. 

• Contacts to be received is 6 million in 2024 and 7.5 million in 2025. 

• Continue to support local center capacity to ensure that individuals in crisis 

receive responses that are tailored to the service system where they are located 

and that services across continuum are linked and coordinated. 

• Enhance local capacity through partnerships in behavioral health crisis response. 
Thank You 

Dr. Tia Dole 

CHIEF 988 LIFELINE OFFICER 

Vibrant Emotional Health 
Mindful Minute 
Upcoming: 

Webinar Series: 

Current Crisis System Implementation: Successes and Challenges 

January 10th @ 1:00-2:00 PM EST 

• Office Hour immediately to follow from 2:00-3:00 PM EST 

• To include an information exchange and an opportunity for individualized 

TA 

• Registration Link: 

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_YWw8sP7VSG2zw5xzpJX4gg#/regis 

tration 

“3C” Session: January 16th @ 2:00-3:00 PM EST 

Policy Academy: April 1st-2nd in Tucson, Arizona 
Contact Information 

SAMHSA’s 988 CSR TTAC

• support@988crisisttac.org 

• 844-464-8338 (toll free) 

Subscribe to the CSR-TTAC contact list to get the 

latest 988 news and invitations to our events, or 

use the QR code to the left: 

https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/aUMAyq2 

Crisis Systems Response Training and Technical Assistance | SAMHSA 

This project is supported by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation. The Crisis 

Systems Response Training & Technical Assistance Center works in conjunction with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. In 2020, Congress designated the new 988 dialing code to be operated through the existing National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. SAMHSA sees 988 as a 

first step towards a transformed crisis care system in America. Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of SAMHSA or the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.