A $7 million funding deficit means one of America’s busiest suicide hotlines is missing tens of thousands of calls

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thousands of calls are being abandoned as Texas’s suicide hotline faces a $7 million funding deficit, according to a new report from The Texas Tribune. From January to August, 18,500 calls to the state’s 988 suicide hotline were abandoned by callers, according to data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. However, the state’s 988 system has nowhere near enough funding, hotline employees and mental health advocates told the Tribune. “If you want us actually to meet the volume of Texas, then somebody’s got to decide to increase the resources that are made available to centers so that we can increase the number of people we serve.” open image in gallery Texas’s 988 suicide hotline is the second-busiest in the nation The state’s hotline, which has five centers, needs double the number of crisis counselors as well as an additional $7 million to operate at full capacity and reduce the rate of abandoned calls, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness Texas.