ACA Applauds the Expansion of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline to Support American Sign Language

On Friday, September 8^th the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) – Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration  (SAMHSA) issued a release announcing the expansion of 988 by meeting the needs for deaf and hard of hearing callers.

This upgrade to the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is part of the ongoing efforts of the White House Administrations focus on expanding accessibility to behavioral health care for underserved communities. Since the July 2022 launch, the 988 Lifeline has received more than 5.5 million calls, texts, and chats, following a nearly $1 billion investment by the Biden-Harris Administration, and now has increases it’s reach by becoming available to the millions of American who use ASL.

For additional information on the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline please click here.

If you would like to become involved in ACA’s advocacy efforts, please contact the ACA Government Affairs and Public Policy team at advocacy@counseling.org and visit the Take Action page to advocate to support the 988 Implementation Act.