Background on 988 Lifeline
- 988 is a free, confidential service available to anyone experiencing a mental health, substance use, or emotional crisis. 988 is an additional resource that, along with Colorado Crisis Services (CCS), supports people with their mental health needs.
- 988 became the new number to reach existing crisis services in Colorado to ensure there is no wrong door for people to get support, effective July of 2022.
- 988 is a national service. When someone dials 988, there are options to access specialized services including Spanish-speaking, Veterans, LGBTQ+ Youth, and American Sign Language services. All other callers with a Colorado area code are transferred to Colorado’s 988 Lifeline Center at Rocky Mountain Crisis Partners, where a trained crisis counselor will answer the phone, listen to you, provide support, and share resources if needed.
- 988 is a confidential service. When people reach Colorado’s 988, they will be asked their name and phone number in case they get disconnected. Callers are asked a few additional questions to help understand the reach of the program, for example, their zip code and date of birth. Callers can indicate they would rather not provide the information requested.
- 988 is distinct from 911. While some safety and health issues may warrant a response from law enforcement and/or emergency medical services (namely when a suicide attempt is in progress), the 988 coordinated response is intended to support individuals through behavioral health crisis services, like the text, phone, walk in services or mobile crisis.
Dashboard Goals
The dashboard provides members of the public with information about the use of crisis services within Colorado, with a focus on 988. We value transparency and want to help you understand our work and what’s happening in our state.
Using the Dashboard
The dashboard is dynamic, meaning that users can explore the data to answer specific questions they may have. Functionality of the dashboard includes: Tabs: Data are presented in two tabs, select whether you want to view data for CCS and the 988 Lifeline or the 988 Lifeline only. Filter: To view data for a specific period, select the months of interest from the drop down. Hover: To see additional details such as what variables mean or further breakdowns of the information, hover over the (i) icon. To respect caller privacy, no data points are presented for categories with fewer than 30 calls or callers.
Alignment with National Data
Vibrant Emotional Health (“Vibrant”), as the Administrator of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline under a cooperative agreement with the US Department of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), maintains and reports data for all states. Vibrant has noted discrepancies of 5-10% between their data and data collected by state call centers (reported here). This is due to a variety of factors such as the use of multiple call platforms. The Colorado 988 operator, Rocky Mountain Crisis Partners is confident in the accuracy of the data reported on this dashboard and will continue to monitor data discrepancies and work with Vibrant to support further alignment.
For additional details see the technical appendix.