988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential support for anyone experiencing mental health-related distress – whether that is thoughts of suicide, mental health or substance use crisis, or any other kind of emotional distress.

People can call or text 988 or chat on the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Website for themselves or if they are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support. 988 serves as a universal entry point so that no matter where you live in the United States, you can reach a trained crisis counselor who can help, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Vibrant Emotional Health, administrator of 988, requires any entity providing 988 services to be certified, accredited, or licensed by an external body, have written policies or guidelines addressing referral, training and suicide risk assessment, and be willing to participate in evaluation activities. For a complete list of requirements that crisis centers must meet to become members of the 988 Lifeline Network, see Vibrant’s 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Minimum Standards For Crisis Contact Centers Applying To Join The 988 Lifeline Network (PDF).

For more information, go to HHSC’s primer entitled, 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in Texas (PDF).

Statements of Work

Training

Statutes and Rules

Reports

Resources

  • For more information on accessing behavioral health services in Texas, please visit the Mental Health TX website.
  • To learn more about suicide prevention and crisis centers, visit the national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline website and the HHS Suicide Prevention page.
  • For people in a crisis and concerned family members, please contact 988.
    • Call or text: 9-8-8
    • Chat online: 988lifeline.org/chat
    • For TTY users: use your preferred relay service or dial 711 then 988.

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