The Washington Post (7/6, McShane) reports, “On July 16, Americans will be able to call or text a new phone number – 988 – if they feel they are experiencing a mental health crisis and/or are at risk of suicide.” This “forthcoming switch to 988 is due to passage of the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act,” which “also mandated that the switch to 988 include a strategy to provide specialized services for LGBTQ youth, who are more than four times as likely to contemplate suicide than their non-LGBTQ peers, research shows.” Many “officials say they hope the new, shorter phone number will be easier for Americans to remember, with the goal of helping more people in crisis – and LGBTQ youth in particular.”
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