About the 988 crisis line: Ohioans of any age experiencing a mental health or addiction crisis should call, text or chat 988 The line connects callers to trained specialists who can offer free, confidential help at any time. Since launching in July 2022, Ohio’s 988 call centers have responded to more than 836,000 contacts and are currently averaging nearly 15,500 calls, texts, and chats each month. Families seeking help from Ohio’s Mobile Response and Stabilization Services can also contact those services through contacting 988. About the Department of Behavioral Health Bridge Line all, 614-466-7228 The Bridge Line helps callers who are not experiencing a mental health crisis find behavioral health resources in the community. Bridge Line team members have lived experience and strive to help those seeking support. Call 614-466-7228 to be connected with non-crisis behavioral health resources in your community. The Bridge Line is available Mondays through Fridays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., except for state holidays. All calls and messages will be returned within one business day, according to the state. People can also visit the Get Help Now tab on the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health website at dbh.ohio.gov to find information on resources.
Eleanor Hake, an intern for Dayton Children’s, colors while posing as a patient to demonstrate functionality in a room at Dayton Children’s Mathile Center for Mental Health and Wellness during a tour in November 2025. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that, since the rollout of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and the government’s investment of $1.5 billion into boosting crisis center capacity, suicides among young people have declined. BRYANT BILLING / STAFF FILE
Shortening the national suicide hotline number from 10 digits to just three — 988 — and investing $1.5 billion to boost crisis center capacity nationwide has saved thousands of young lives, a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association states.
Harvard researchers analyzed projected suicide deaths based on historical data from the National Vital Statistics System, comparing those figures to what the U.S. actually saw in the two years after the rollout of 988, which replaced the previous 10-digit 1-800-273-TALK hotline number.
The study found an 11% drop in projected youth suicides between July 2022 to December 2024, equating to more than 4,000 lives.
Among youth, “suicide mortality is lower than it would have been without the program,” one of the authors of the study, Dr. Vishal Patel, told The New York Times.
Local experts continue to praise the rollout of 988, as well as of Ohio’s initiative to provide mobile response services for youth experiencing a mental health crisis in all 88 counties.
“This is an amazing service because families can get the help they need when they need it,” Dr. Kelly Blankenship, associate chief of mental health at Dayton Children’s, said about Ohio’s Mobile Response and Stabilization Services.
These response teams and stabilization services are for youth 20 and younger who are experiencing a mental health crisis, including significant behavioral or emotional distress, according to the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health.
The service is free to families, and it was previously only available in about half of the state until officials expanded it to all 88 counties last year, investing about $51 million into the program.
People can access those services through calling the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which then dispatches a provider to the child or young person in need within the hour.
The mental health provider helps calm the situation by offering immediate de-escalation, ensuring everyone is safe, and creating a plan for comprehensive wraparound care with up to 42 days of ongoing support.
The clinician will also help the family get the child or young person to an emergency department if needed, Blankenship said.
“If they need to see that child every day, because there’s this ongoing crisis, they have the ability to do this,” Blankenship said. “It’s meeting the families where they are and when they need it.”
No issue is too large or too small, according to the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health, and Blankenship said families can utilize the service before problems develop into a crisis.
“There’s things that I think people don’t think about, like a lot of times kids will refuse to go to school,” Blankenship said. “So you get the school refusal and it’s often because they’re anxious or there’s something going on at school or a myriad of different reasons.”
After calling 988, a clinician from Ohio’s Mobile Response and Stabilization Services can be dispatched to assist the family in figuring out how to get the child to go to school, she said.
“It doesn’t have to be this traditional thought of what a mental health crisis is, because I think the traditional thought is, ‘I’m suicidal or I’m homicidal,’ but (there) can be a myriad of other kind of crises … It’s really how the caller identifies the crisis,” Blankenship said.
The mobile response services can help the family come up with a care plan that gets them set up with a provider quickly rather than letting the situation go unaddressed until it reaches the point where the child or young person needs to go to an ER for suicidal ideation.
“I feel like we’re so lucky to have this in Ohio because a lot of states do not have this,” Blankenship said.
Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jim Tressel also issued a proclamation declaring this month as Mental Health Awareness Month. More than 2.1 million Ohioans have a mental health condition, according to the state, which also says 575,000 Ohioans have a serious mental illness and one in five U.S. adults experience mental illness each year.
“(The) state of Ohio will continue to promote efforts to eradicate harmful stigmas that can keep people from seeking help for mental health concerns and illnesses,” the joint proclamation states.
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Ohioans of any age who are experiencing a mental health or addiction crisis should call, text or chat 988 to reach a trained specialist who can offer free, confidential help at any time. Since launching in July 2022, Ohio’s 988 call centers have responded to more than 836,000 contacts and are currently averaging nearly 15,500 calls, texts, and chats each month.
Families seeking help from Ohio’s Mobile Response and Stabilization Services can also contact those services through contacting 988.
The Ohio Department of Behavioral Health Bridge Line helps callers who are not experiencing a mental health crisis in seeking behavioral health resources in the community. Bridge Line team members are people with lived experience who strive to support those seeking recovery support in their communities. Call 614-466-7228 to be connected with non-crisis behavioral health resources in your community.
The Bridge Line is available Mondays through Fridays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., except for state holidays. All calls and messages will be returned within one business day, according to the state.
People can also visit the Get Help Now tab on the Ohio Department of Behavioral Health website at}dbh.ohio.gov to find information on treatment providers and supports.
Study credits national crisis center investments.