Alternatives to Harmful Crisis Lines
What’s the issue with mainstream crisis lines?
In January 2022, an article came out that exposed the fact that the Crisis Text Line was selling personal data to for-profit companies. The Trevor Project also was mentioned in this article for sharing data with Google and Meta.
They aren’t the only crisis lines with issues: this article that also came out in January 2022 talks about how the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is ignoring the testimony from their Lived Experience Committee about stopping involvment with cops, and is working with the Federal Communications Comission to try to get permission to use a newer type of mass surveillence technology during their calls.
Quote from the article: “Basically, Vibrant/NSPL argued that everyone who calls, texts, or chats through the new 988 number should have their personal information and exact current geolocation to within three meters exposed to NSPL call centers automatically, immediately, and by default.”
Beyond these ethical issues around data collection, a huge problem with almost every single crisis line is their policies of “active rescue”: basically, what this means is that crisis lines will track your location and send police to your location if they think you’re at risk of harming yourself. This happens hundreds of thousands of times every single year. This is extremely dangerous, especially for Black people using these lines. There are examples of people being shot because of calls made to hotlines where police showed up. Police showing up also leads to forced psychiatric incarceration. I personally have had the police called on me twice through a crisis line that I thought was anonymous; they showed up, entered my room without my consent, and searched me without my consent. They literally made everything in that moment worse.
If people want to learn more about the history of police involvment and crisis lines, here’s an article.
Avoid hotlines that call the cops:
Crisis Text Line
Trevor Project
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
NAMI helpline
LGBT National Hotline
SAMHSA National Hotline
List of State Crisis Lines that all call cops
Alternatives that do not share data or call the cops
Pretty much every national and mainstream crisis line calls the cops. A general rule of thumb is that unless it specifically mentions that it doesn’t call the cops on their website, it does. I also haven’t done a ton of research on the data sharing side for the lines I’m listing below, but if anyone has any more info please let me know and I’ll update the list.
National:
Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860, 24/7
THRIVE: text message line at 313-662-8209, 24/7
Promise Resource Network: (833) 390-7728, 24/7
Project Return Peer Support Network: (888) 448-9777 English or (888) 448-4055 Spanish, hours are Monday through Friday 2:30 PM to 10:00 PM and Saturday and Sunday 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Wildflower Alliance Peer Support Line: 888-407-4515, hours are 7pm to 9pm Monday through Thursday and 7pm-10pm Friday through Sunday
Key Consumer Organization: 800-933-5397, hours are 8am - 4:30pm, Monday - Friday.
MBRLC Peer Support Line: 877-733-7563, hours are 4 pm-7:45 pm every day.
Check out this page for a directory of warmlines by state. These are much less likely to call the cops, but it’s good to check with each individual one about specific policies.
If anyone has more info, please add on!
Reminder that the new 988 suicide prevention number calls the cops and engages in the unethical issues described above! Don’t share that number without letting people know it calls the cops, traces your location, and has a risk of involuntary hospitalization. The articles linked above have sources talking about all of these issues.
