Using the Whole Whale - A Nonprofit Podcast

988 National Suicide Prevention Hotline Launches This Summer (news)

May 24, 2022

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NonprofitNewsFeed.com

988 National Suicide Prevention Hotline To Soon Go Live

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services is unveiling a new national emergency number for individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. The new 988 emergency number, akin to 911, will redirect to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, which is managed by the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The number goes live on July 16, 2022. The new number is part of a broader strategy to address the crisis of suicide in the United States. Suicide is the leading cause of death for Americans aged 10-34. The SAMHSA 988 FAQ page has important information for mental health partners including nonprofits that may publicly direct folks seeking help to this new number. Read more about how states are preparing.

Summary

Rough Transcript

[00:00:00] This week on the nonprofit news summary, we have got interesting news coming out about a new national suicide prevention hotline, 9, 8, 8, and some other summary news touching on Qatar, baby formula, and a lot more Nick.

[00:00:16] It's going good, George. We had our first real summer weekend here in the city. It was 90 and sunny.

[00:00:23] So we're in a, summer's almost here kind of mood, but also coming this summer is a new hotline for folks experiencing a mental health emergency. The us department of health and human services is unveiling a new national emergency number for individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. The new number will be 9, 8, 8, and justice like 9 1 1.

[00:00:52] It's just those three numbers. And that 9, 8, 8 number will redirect to the national suicide prevention lifeline. That lifeline is managed by the substance abuse and mental health services administration. And the new number it goes live on July 16th, 2022. So this is happening within the next two months.

[00:01:14] And the number is part of a broader strategy to address the crisis of suicide in the United States. According to the substance abuse and mental health services administration suicide is the leading cause of death for Americans, age 10 through 34. We recommend that if you're a non. That works in the mental health space or offer.

[00:01:34] Beneficiaries, any kind of mental health support, or even has documentation about what number to call. It's important to note that the original national suicide prevention lifeline number will still work, but you may also want to take into account the new number that's being rolled out for organizations that might have it listed on their website and within the newsletter.

[00:01:57] We've linked to the FAQ page that has some of the technical requirements, some of the branding requirements for this new rollout. But George, I think this is a really exciting move. It's a prioritization by our government and its partners to protect mental health in the United States. And what's been an extremely trying couple of years.

[00:02:18] This is a cool, innovative approach, and I'm here for it.

[00:02:20] It's so interesting because technically the line already existed, but I can't tell you it off the top of my head and actually in full disclosure, the national suicide prevention lifeline and the network was at former Holwell client. And with 9, 8, 8, we're talking about a larger conceptual branding, nine.

[00:02:40] Everyone understands calling 9 1 1. And what that entails. There's an emergency call nine 11. The truth is the health outcomes for those suffering from mental illness. When the police are called without the proper training in hot moments, do not end well for outcomes, especially. Low-income communities and certainly with people of color, and this has been documented, unfortunately over a number of years.

[00:03:07] And some of that information is also kind of in the background on this. And so I think a nationwide branding around 9, 8, 8, when it matters for a mental health related crisis. I will literally save lives. And it's interesting, you know, like it already existed, but getting that out there as wide far as possible, non-profits

[00:03:27] are gonna play a huge role, a huge role in

[00:03:30] making sure that all communities know what to call and why.

[00:03:35] And that will ensure that people with the proper training are deployed in those moments of crisis. As opposed to showing up, you know, with a, I would say to be fair

[00:03:47] to the police that do serve and protect

[00:03:50] our nation and do amazing job, they can't be expected to serve in every single potential scenario to perfection.

[00:03:59] So I think this is just a really great step toward how. How mental health in crisis can be, can be handled in the country. And there's a lot of work to do. And that's going live July 16th, 2022.

[00:04:11] Yeah, George that's right. There is a lot of work to do. And one of the concerns is that the number actually might be overwhelmed on, on its roll out.

[00:04:22] So different states are working to address this by increasing resources and leveling up those networks because the folks who respond. To those calls, it's a vast and kind of complicated network of, of people. So they're also in the article. It talks about how individual states are vamping up resources to be able to handle the new switch.

[00:04:45] But I absolutely agree with you having this as a nine on 9 1, 1 outlet will be extremely important.

[00:04:54] All right. I can take us into the summary. Our first story here is a press release from amnesty international, which has signed a joint letter along with other prominent human rights organizations, including human rights. Watch. The business and human rights resource center among others, which is calling on the FIFA president, Mr.

[00:05:17] Gianni Infantino to work with the Qatar government trade unions, the international labor organization, the ILO and other intergovernmental actors to protect workers leading up to the Qatar FIFA world cup. This world cup has been. Shroud of controversy and accusations of human rights abuses since it was first announced under quite frankly, a cloud of a suspect of a lot of corruption.

[00:05:48] Nearly 10 years ago that this would be the venue for the 2022 world cup. But this letter signed by amnesty and other NGOs is calling on FIFA to set aside nearly half a billion dollars in money to go to workers who have been exploited. And you read down the list of, of ways that these workers are exploited.

[00:06:13] They're often. Kind of alert from developing countries, particularly in south and Southeast Asia. Their workers are they're held in the country without the ability to travel home. Their visas are. Taken from them by their employers. It's, it's practically indentured, indentured labor at a certain point.

[00:06:36] So really, really serious human rights concerns not to mention the temperature in Qatar is astronomical during the summer. So. One of the reasons I wanted to highlight this is because I think that the international human rights community does a really good job of partnering to amplify their message.

[00:06:56] And when I heard about this, I actually heard about it on all different channels. They all seem to actually post this on LinkedIn at the same time. And I saw it all at the same time. And I think it's just a cool way to leveraging partner, strip partnerships for strategic value. Here and whether FIFA will do this, who knows, probably not.

[00:07:18] FIFA is notoriously one of the most corrupt international organizations that exists, but nonetheless still I think it's important to try and this is a cool cool approach here.

[00:07:31] As you mentioned before, choosing Qatar, a place where it regularly hits over 120 Fahrenheit. During the summer is not a logical place for a massive world cup installation and athletes to be playing.

[00:07:45] So clearly I think there's a true cost, a true cost associated with making these types of decisions. That it's great to see these non-profits calling out and saying, when you do these things, there have to be. Just fairness and consequences in the same balance here in 440 million. I know that's a, that's a lot to cover, but certainly to the scale, I'm sure that they have looked at that this second order effect of saying sure.

[00:08:13] Guitar, a place that shouldn't be hosting. It doesn't have the infrastructure whatsoever. Yeah. Let's, let's host there because. That that makes sense for soccer should really receive this and a lot more scrutiny on it, especially if you're talking about these types and scales of labor abuses.

[00:08:32] Absolutely. And I'll say that this community has been focusing on this issue for a long time and so much so that I wrote a capstone thesis on this very issue in college, which is quite a few years ago now. So it's horrible. You have recruiters going into small villages. In Nepal in Indonesia and other countries and offering salaries that never come to them, they get stranded in Qatar.

[00:09:01] The idea is that these workers will travel abroad. They can send remittances back home. It's almost never what they're promised. Their visas are held from them. They're held there. It's, it's a disaster. And the Qatari government's done a little bit to address it, but the whole thing is a disaster.

[00:09:19] And It'll be interesting to see how these narratives play out one. Everyone in the world watches the FIFA world cup. And we saw a similar kind of tension about human rights abuses and China with the Olympic games that were hosted this year. But we'll we'll, we'll see. We'll see what happens.

[00:09:40] Yeah, the narrative of you're responsible for the second and third order effects. I think that touches on also, not just social justice, but environmental as well, where you have companies that have long profited off of the ability to dump excess carbon into, into the ecosystem and are, are more and more non-profits and organizations paying attention to this.

[00:10:03] And I think the true cost of. Organizing and throwing an event like this on the global stage should come with a ticket and understanding that you are responsible, not for just the creation, but the second order impact of what you are, are running. But like you said, I I'm not sure how FIFA will,

[00:10:23] will respond to that.

[00:10:23] No, that's true. Did you know that New Jersey in New York who will be hosting the world cup in 2026? The next I'm not even

[00:10:31] kidding. In 2026, that's like around the corner.

[00:10:34] That's an yeah. Four years. Can you imagine New Jersey transit attempting to handle the world's cup?

[00:10:41] I mean, I can't imagine guitar trying to handle the world cup and they have no infrastructure whatsoever, but I've been on Jersey transit and.

[00:10:48] I love the path train as much as the next human, but I think it is, it is like one extra passenger away from breathing. So

[00:10:55] not see, I don't think everyone in the tri-state area actually realizes this is happening, but that's an aside.

[00:11:02] Anyway, our next story is also a little bit of a downer. This is about the shortage of baby formula. And this comes from K O I N, CBS six local affiliate out of Oregon. And it talks about how nonprofits that have worked to, to distribute BB form. In which we're in the midst of a massive shortage now are kind of stepping in to fill the gap.

[00:11:29] And it talks about some rules that have been changed that allow folks, low income folks who are able to receive formula. Now, the type of formula they can receive has been broadened. And throughout this whole crisis, it turns out there's only like four or five companies that produce. The overwhelming majority of baby formula in the country and seems to just be this kind of.

[00:11:53] Collection of mismanagement and miss regulation. That's made the industry so vulnerable to now a shortage of supply, but this is kind of crazy that there is a shortage of baby formula. And even throughout the pandemic, we've had, you know, people bought everything from grocery stores and toilet paper, but that wasn't really.

[00:12:17] Like how serious a problem was that really this is a real problem and it disproportionately affects lower income folks.

[00:12:24] Yeah. And the article goes on to say, you're trying to do your best. This is a quote, trying to do your best. And gas is also $5 a gallon. You have to drive to six stores to get formula.

[00:12:33] And it is so hard. This is the executive director, Mara white of mother-in-law. If you're middle-class American, you can find formula, but when you are low income, you have significant barriers to get formula. And it's absolutely trying. And, you know, speaking as a parent, you know, when you're dealing with an infant, you'd be like there's.

[00:12:48] And there's one thing that they can consume is calories like that is your entire life's mission to, to feed that child. So it is unbelievable that a country with our resources has allowed it to get to this level of desperation. I know we are always fighting on many fronts. Feeding infants in the most prosperous country in the world should not be something that has headlined and led by nonprofits to say, Hey, this is a

[00:13:13] major.

[00:13:14] I absolutely agree. All right. Our next story goes a little bit in a different turn. And this comes from nonprofit pro.com and it releases the results of a band guard, charitable survey, which says that more than one in three. Donor's contributed to disaster relief efforts. So the data here shows that one in three, approximately 37% of Americans who are donors who donated money to a charitable bowl organization did so to an organization that worked in disaster.

[00:13:49] Whether that was an org helping out in Ukraine with the humanitarian crisis, there COVID-19 relief or relief in the wake of other natural disasters like wildfires and other crises. This is interesting and something we like to keep an eye on trends and giving and something. We talk about a lot on this podcast is surges of giving an attention around tent pole moments like Afghanistan like Ukraine.

[00:14:20] But I think it shows here that those moments, even if they are brief, even if the attention runs out can still make up a very large percentage of.

[00:14:30] Yeah, I am. I'm always trying to look at this. We make this point every time compassion is an unstable emotion that is able to be capitalized. That is a quote from Susan Sontag. And so those peaks happen incredibly quickly. Usually around you were to

[00:14:45] receive

[00:14:46] about three weeks from trough to trough, call it trough peak trough.

[00:14:52] Interestingly in this report, though, one of my thoughts is like, oh, is this disaster style of giving actually reducing, overall giving or creating this sort of power law dynamic to an extreme where a handful of charities that happened to be in the line of a disaster, get the funding and the rest.

[00:15:10] Yet very

[00:15:12] little the quote here is donors who gave to disaster relief and other charities donated 48% more in the 12 trailing months.

[00:15:21] Then those donors who did not give to a disaster relief effort, 1800 on average versus 1200 on average. So it's interesting that it seems to be when people are giving to disasters. It's in addition to a normal giving pattern instead, instead of.

[00:15:37] Yeah, I agree. And I guess that's, that's a good thing. But yeah, we have this article linked from our newsletter which you can also find in the show notes of this podcast. And there's lots of interesting stats in here, so we recommend that you check it out. Alright, George, how about a feel? Good story.

[00:15:55] All right. What do you have for us? This comes from Fox five vegas.com and it is about a nonprofit. That's opened a cat cafe to highlight adoptable felines in Las Vegas. So patrons campaign entry, donation of $15, which gives them the chance to enjoy the snacks, a beverage, and a cafe full of kittens for approximately an hour.

[00:16:20] And the nonprofit hearts alive village. Says that the entry fee helps cover costs for a cat or kitten to receive a full set of vaccines and the microchip. And at the end of your experience, if you wants to donate a kitten, you have that opportunity

[00:16:38] donate a kitten or donate to support a kitten.

[00:16:41] You can, the donation goes to support a kitten.

[00:16:44] You can adopt the kit. Yeah. I feel

[00:16:47] like you want to take creating a bigger problem if it's like we're accepting kitten donations.

[00:16:51] That's, that's a, that's a different kind of a different kind of program. You caught me there, but this is cool. Have you ever been to a cat cafe? I

[00:17:00] have walked by a cat cafe and I've seen them.

[00:17:04] I know they like launched as something curious, you know, I think over a decade ago at this point, I like this because it is clearly an organization that had a particular, you know, problem, social issue of trying to get more cats adopted and sort of the way they're going about it could be in a for-profit manner.

[00:17:24] As in they have a revenue generating hypothetically, you know, opportunity to sell coffee and bring people in. And I think this type of solution makes me. Happy whenever I see it, even if it doesn't succeed, that it's being tried is very clever and can lead to a lot of other, you know, potentially good ideas for other local shelters that say, all right, we have, you know, these assets.

[00:17:50] And then is there something adjacent to what we do that could bring in foot traffic driven, bring in revenue and, and serve our social impact

[00:17:57] bottom line as well? Absolutely. Sounds all sorts of sustainable to me.

[00:18:02] All right, Nick. Thanks for that. And see you next week.

[00:18:06] See you next week. Thanks George.