New dashboard monitors the effectiveness of North Carolina's 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has released a dashboard to monitor the performance of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. The goal of the dashboard is to determine how this state-federal partnership is being used, as well as its overall effectiveness.

988, which was rolled out in July of 2022, connects individuals to trained crisis counselors who provide support and resources at all hours, seven days per week. 

Early indicators from the dashboard show North Carolina‘s service is efficient and meeting demand. The average phone call wait time is 14 seconds — less than half the national average. And the average number of calls left unanswered in North Carolina is 2% compared to 10% nationally.

The performance dashboard also determines the volume of contacts, age ranges, why people call, and from which specific populations including the Spanish call center, Veterans Crisis Line, and LGBTQ+ youth and young adult hotlines.