Here & Now

Shelly Missall on Goals of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

Frederica Freyberg:

Since it launched in mid-July, thousands of people have dialed in to the new suicide and crisis lifeline in Wisconsin reached by calling 988. Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin manages the call center with counselors on the other end of the line for people dialing 988 seeking help. Shelly Missall is the program manager of Family Services of Northeast Wisconsin. She joins us now from Green Bay. Thanks very much for being here.

Shelly Missall:

Thank you.

Frederica Freyberg:

So, what is the volume of calls right now at the 988 call center?

Shelly Missall:

We are seeing about 4,000 calls a month coming in.

Frederica Freyberg:

And how does that compare to previous hotlines?

Shelly Missall:

So prior to 988 launching, it was pretty similar. We’ve seen continued growth over the years, so we look back just about a year and a half to January of 2021, we were taking about 1100 calls a month, and so the last probably 3 or 4 months, we have been at that 4,000 mark. So we have just seen natural growth in the utilization of the line. We have seen a lot of growth in new callers with the launch of 988.

Frederica Freyberg:

What is it about the new call line that people are responding to?

Shelly Missall:

I think it’s an awareness and a curiosity. Some of the calls are about people just exploring that service, maybe not being connected in, not having known what the service was or that it existed previously. And a huge part of that is the easy access to obviously that three digit dialing with 988 is a lot easier to access and remember than the ten digit 800 number. Although that ten digit 800 number still does exist as a legacy and will continue to exist and be usable as well.

Frederica Freyberg:

So in fact, it’s called the suicide and crisis lifeline but you have told us that fewer than maybe a third of the calls are these emergency calls. What are they more so?

Shelly Missall:

Absolutely. Most of the calls that we are seeing are folks who are calling just because they have something to talk about, an individual crisis. It could be they are having some sort of relationships issues, job issues, financial issues. They are having some issues managing their mental health. Whatever that individual personal crisis is that they just need somebody to talk to right now.

Frederica Freyberg:

Yeah, so you’ve also said that sometimes it’s helpers themselves that call who seek the anonymity of this line. Describe that kind of caller.

Shelly Missall:

Yeah, so one of the really nice things about the lifeline is it is free and anonymous, so folks don’t even need to tell us their name when they call in. And that creates a great space and opportunity for those helpers that we have in our community, those first responders, those folks who are working in the local crisis systems, who are working in ERs, things like that, and they are immersed in this, and there’s a discomfort. I don’t want to reach out to a co-worker necessarily for help. I don’t want to reach out to somebody who is going to recognize me that I have to go work with tomorrow, and so we are a great opportunity for folks like that to have somebody to talk to with a little bit more anonymity and a little less concern about that recognition and how that impacts their day-to-day work relationships.

Frederica Freyberg:

But in a life-threatening situation, you do have a mechanism for referring on to emergency services?

Shelly Missall:

Absolutely. So, we collaborate with law enforcement across the state of Wisconsin as well as the public safety answering or 911 dispatch centers, so we are connecting in with those in those imminent risk situations when there is serious risk of harm to self or others. However, that is a very small amount of the calls that we actually take, and that we need to do that sort of intervention with, so it’s really about 1% of the calls we take where we are getting some sort of intervention like that happening.

Frederica Freyberg:

Some have wondered whether call volume is so high people might have to wait or get transferred to a national hotline. How well staffed up is the 988 call center to handle the load?

Shelly Missall:

So in Wisconsin, we are doing really well with our staffing and we have been able to manage and maintain that capacity of the calls and we do continue to build capacity by adding staff. I believe we are adding about two positions a month right now for the ongoing and foreseeable future. So we are continuing to hire additional counselors to build that staff and part of that has been strategic at a national level and within Wisconsin with that roll-out. We did see some media early on and so there was a little bit of sharing, but it’s been a more of a soft launch and building capacity across the state to support the people who are reaching out and we’ll see more coming facing the public as far as sharing more information about 988 next year.

Frederica Freyberg:

Does the popularity of 988 highlight how much people need a listening ear and just help figuring out where to go or what resources are available?

Shelly Missall:

I think that’s a really great observation. Yeah, there’s a lot of folks who could use some additional support but if they’ve never been connected in with the resources that exist, they might just not know what’s there. So 988 is great. It gives them an opportunity to explore what’s out there. It gives them an opportunity to learn more about the mental health resources that exist, about opportunities and places they can go to in a crisis, and it really builds upon the opportunities for them to get connected with the resources they need in a safe and comfortable environment.

Frederica Freyberg:

And easy number to call as well. Shelly Missall, thanks very much and thanks for your work.

Shelly Missall:

Thank you, thanks for having me.