The new 988 suicide prevention line shows promise in Illinois, but questions remain – WBEZ (Chicago)

From April through June, 81% of Illinois calls to the old 10-digit suicide prevention number were sent to out-of-state call centers. But in August, the first full month since the three-digit 988 number officially went live, that number flipped, and 85% of the 12,300 calls placed from Illinois were handled by crisis counselors within the state. Even so, it raises the question: Are Black and brown people who experience a mental health crisis in disinvested neighborhoods in Chicago well served by a crisis lifeline in Bloomington, roughly 130 miles southwest of their reality?
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Pat S.
3 years ago

Is race WBEZ’s only lens?

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Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago pension buyout plan mostly shifts debt rather than eliminating it, property tax surge doubles inflation over three decades

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