Crisis Care · United States
988 has handled millions of contacts since launch — but state funding remains uneven
KFF's two-year review finds that response times improved nationally while state-level financing diverged sharply.
KFF's policy brief on the federally mandated 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline takes stock of the system two years into its life as a three-digit number. It documents major improvements in answer rates and counselor capacity, alongside large state-by-state differences in how — and whether — 988 is being funded for the long term.
Of particular note: only a handful of states have passed dedicated telecom fees to finance 988, leaving most centers dependent on federal grants that are unlikely to scale at the rate demand is growing. KFF also flags ongoing gaps in mobile crisis response and crisis stabilization beds, the other two legs of the so-called crisis continuum.
Read the full brief at KFF for the state-by-state data and policy options.
Mental Hum is a reading list, not a publisher. The summary above is our own editorial framing; the reporting and analysis live at the source.
If reading this brought something up for you —
Call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. See all crisis resources.