988 in California
California Assembly Bill 988 and the Legacy of Miles Hall
Learn more about the history of California Assembly Bill 988 (AB 988), known as the Miles Hall Lifeline and Suicide Prevention Act, and Miles Hall’s Legacy.
988 Awareness
988 Billboard Campaign
Beginning mid-September 2025, DHCS launched a comprehensive billboard campaign to build awareness, educate, and drive adoption of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline statewide. A total of 992 billboards were placed throughout California, generating approximately 326,835,019 impressions.
Men and Boys
Depression, addiction, and suicide rates are rising in young men and boys. Young men are three times more likely to die by suicide than young women and depression is the leading cause of death in young men. In response, Governor Gavin Newsom called for a statewide effort to reduce mental health stigma, strengthen mental health supports, and create pathways for work and education for men and boys.
Men and Boys Resources
Department of Health Care Services
The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) provides equitable access to quality health care for all Californians. DHCS is responsible for financing and administering the state’s Medicaid program, Medi-Cal. DHCS allocates funding and oversees programming for 988 services in California.
DHCS Office of Tribal Affairs
The DHCS Office of Tribal Affairs (OTA) serves as the DHCS principal liaison with Tribes and Indian health program representatives, and urban Indian organizations. OTA partnered with the California Consortium for Urban Indian Health (CCUIH), to create Tribal 988 billboards featuring the artwork from local artist Monica Zavala, which ran concurrently with the DHCS statewide 988 billboard campaign.
California Health and Human Services Agency
The California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS) works with counties, cities, and communities, along with public, private, faith, and educational partners to make California a healthy, vibrant, and inclusive place to live, play, work, and learn. CalHHS is responsible for coordinating cross-departmental strategy, establishing a 988-Crisis Policy Advisory Group, and delivering comprehensive multi-year crisis system implementation plans to the state legislature, including development of the AB 988 Five-Year Implementation Plan for the state legislature.
Governor’s Office of Emergency Services
The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) serves as the state’s leadership hub during major emergencies and disasters and manages activities such as responding, directing, and coordinating state and federal resources and mutual aid assets across all regions to support the diverse communities across the state. Cal OES is in charge of public safety communications in the state and manages the interface and interoperability between the 911 and 988 systems. Cal OES oversees distribution of funding from the 988 surcharge, a monthly fee applied to intrastate telecommunication service lines and prepaid mobile services to directly fund the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Cal OES runs the State 9-1-1 Advisory Board, which is open to the public and responsible for developing and implementing protocols for call transfers between 911 and 988.
California Department of Managed Health Care
The mission of the California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) is to ensure health plan members have access to equitable, high-quality, timely, and affordable health care within a stable health care delivery system.
California Department of Public Health
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) works to protect the public’s health and shape positive health outcomes for individuals, families, and communities. CDPH’s Office of Suicide Prevention focuses on building partnerships, sharing data, and promoting evidence-informed strategies to prevent suicide. This includes many programs that intersect with 988, such as the “Never a Bother” youth suicide prevention campaign and training and education programming.
Emergency Medical Services Authority California
The Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA) oversees the California Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system and sets standards for the training and scope of practice of various levels of EMS professionals, including public safety professionals, first responders, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, nurses, physicians, and administrators who deliver care to the public and operate the system.
988-Crisis Policy Advisory Group
The 988-Crisis Policy Advisory Group (PAG) was formed to advise the state on the development and implementation of recommendations for the AB 988 Five-Year Implementation Plan, a five-year implementation plan for a comprehensive 988 system. CalHHS selected PAG members based on the categories outlined in the AB 988 legislation with the intention of including diverse voices and perspectives from across California. Each PAG member brings expertise, experience, and diversity of thought to help develop strong, actionable recommendations for a comprehensive 988 crisis system that works for all Californians.
988 California Crisis Center Consortium
The 988 California Crisis Center Consortium is a network of organizations and agencies dedicated to managing 988 across California. By coordinating resources and services, the Consortium ensures that help is available when it is needed most.
Vibrant Emotional Health
Vibrant Emotional Health is the administrator of the national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline funded by SAMHSA. Vibrant supports a national network of more than 200 Crisis Centers, maintains technology infrastructure, conducts call, chat, and text routing, and provides technical assistance and training. Each of California’s 11 Crisis Centers contracts with Vibrant to provide 988 services.
SAMHSA 988 & Behavioral Health Crisis Coordinating Office
The 988 & Behavioral Health Crisis Coordinating Office (BHCCO) provides leadership on behavioral crisis services at all levels of government; facilitates coordination, communication, and partnerships; and manages the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline grant program and operations. The BHCCO manages the national 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline website, which provides resources and information designed to help states, territories, tribes, mental health and substance use disorder professionals, and others looking for information on understanding the background, history, funding opportunities, and implementation resources for strengthening suicide prevention and mental health crisis services.
Locate the Crisis Center assigned to your county.
Click here to view the map and list provided to find the Crisis Center assigned to each California county.
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