Our Crisis Centers
Learn more about our network of crisis centers and what you can do to support them.
What is a Crisis Center?
A crisis center is a resource for individuals going through mental health crises. They provide mental health services and emotional support for their state or local communities. Most crisis centers are non-profit and many utilize trained volunteers as well as mental health professionals.
Your local crisis center usually serves your entire community, often 24/7 and free of charge. These centers connect callers to providers in their community that can support their needs.
Crisis centers answer calls for the Lifeline, as well as local helplines, and offer other resources such as text, chat, or mobile services. Crisis centers also provide training and educational resources on suicide prevention and mental wellness. They are also a resource for mental health professionals seeking advice on best practices. All of the services a crisis center offers strengthens their local community and the state as a whole.
Crisis Centers Support the Lifeline
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (formerly known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) is made up of an expansive network of over 200 local – and state – funded crisis centers located across the United States. The counselors at these local crisis centers answer calls and chats from people in distress that the Lifeline receives every day. The Lifeline’s crisis centers provide the specialized care of a local community with the support of a national network.
The Lifeline’s united network provides at-risk individuals across the country with a single, well-known phone number and name. This unity enables the Lifeline to assure that centers are accredited, provide training for counselors, and disseminate best practices.
Calls to the Lifeline are routed to their closest center based on area code, with the goal of connecting callers to counselors in their own state. Local counselors at crisis centers are familiar with community mental health resources, and can therefore provide referrals to local services.
Crisis centers provide local care with national support.
