Financing Factors Perceived as Affecting the Implementation and Future Success of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

Objective: Concerns about financing for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline have persisted since its launch. The authors aimed to assess perceptions of financing factors affecting 988's implementation among professionals involved with its operation.

Methods: In May-August 2024, professionals (N=384) completed a web-based survey. Fifteen items were used to characterize perceptions of the extent to which financing factors had positively influenced 988's implementation and were considered important for its future.

Results: All 15 items were rated significantly (p<0.001) lower in past positive influence than in future importance to 988's future. Only 10% of the respondents completely agreed that the 988 Lifeline had sufficient funding to meet its service demands, and 8% completely agreed that sufficient funding had been available for quality monitoring. Ratings were similar for respondents who were (vs. were not) very involved with 988's financial planning.

Conclusions: The professionals surveyed perceived financing as a prominent concern likely to affect the 988 Lifeline's future success.