Crisis Center of Tampa Bay needs more employees as calls quadruple
TAMPA, Fla. - A nationwide hotline has been ringing off the hook, since its rollout nearly a year ago.
The 988 Suicide and Crisis Hotline was rolled out last July. Since then, there’s been a nationwide need for people to answer the calls into the hotline.
At the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, CEO Clara Reynolds said they’ve answered more than 8,800 calls to the 988 hotline, alone.
READ: USF and Crisis Center team up for free classes on mental health in the workplace
The 988 Suicide and Crisis Hotline significantly increased the number of calls coming into the crisis center.
The hotline operates 24/7. She says they cover Hillsborough County and Charlotte County, and saw calls quadruple over the last year.
"We have the fourth highest call volume in the state, and with that call volume, we have one of the best call answer rates, but that's still at 80 or 90%," Reynolds explained.
Reynolds said their goal is to have a 100% call answer rate, but they need even more staff to help answer the calls.
"We have added additional people to our phone lines, but we need to add another 20 long term, and we need to add another four or five specifically dedicated to 988 to maintain the call volume," Reynolds shared.
If a call isn’t answered right away, Reynolds said it will be routed to a different call center, but she explains it’s important to answer every call in a matter of seconds.
"They'll kind of talk themselves out of it and quickly hang up," she said. "So that's why it's very important that within 15 to 30 seconds of that ring happening, somebody picks up that phone."
The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay is trying to find ways to hire more staff, so they can better serve public safety needs.
From the 988 hotline, to the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay’s veterans support line, to its sexual assault survivor services, Reynolds shared they operate so many different crisis lines.
READ: Bill Cosby sued by 9 more women in Nevada for alleged sexual assaults
"It takes a long time, certainly, to identify individuals who want to answer these calls and to get them trained," she explained. "In addition, we answer a whole host of other phone lines to help people before they get into crisis. So it's not like we can just move people strictly to 988, because then all of those other call lines won't get answers."
Reynolds said each staff member in their call center is trained to work with callers in a number of different crisis situations.
"They are absolutely first responders," she shared. "You know, we think about dispatch, whether it's 911 dispatch, but those individuals have experienced a lot of vicarious trauma. They're the first entry point."
The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay is partnering with Tampa Bay area universities to create internship opportunities and train students to help answer calls in the call center.
"Making that phone call is oftentimes the hardest part of the journey, is just saying, I need help," Reynolds said.
The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay wants to answer 100% of the calls they receive.
As they look to the second year of operation for the 988 hotline and beyond, Reynolds said they hope to get long term funding and support from the state and federal levels to continue its lifesaving work.
"To let our legislators know how important this work is, how vital it is to public safety, just like 911 is," she said. "And that is going to need ongoing support and infrastructure and funding to continue."
Reynolds said they will push for funding during the upcoming state legislative session.
If you would like to get involved with the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, click here.
If you are in crisis and need help, you can call the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay’s 24/7 general hotline at 211 or find more resources by clicking here.