Crisis Resources
- Written by
- Jenna Hale
- Last checked
If someone is in danger right now
Call 911 if someone is being hurt now or is about to be. The services below are staffed around the clock and cost nothing to contact. They are set out here so that the page you are reading is never the only thing in front of you.
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
- Call or text 988. Chat at chat.988lifeline.org. The operator states: “The 988 Lifeline is available 24/7/365”. In Spanish its own instructions are “dial 988 and then press 2” or “text AYUDA to 988”. For veterans and service members, by “calling 988 and pressing 1”, or by “texting 838255”.
- Crisis Text Linetext and chat
- Text HOME to 741741. The operator states: “You text 741741 when in crisis, available 24/7 in the United States”, and describes a response “within five minutes”. On what happens to what is said, its own wording is: “Crisis Counselors only know what texters share with them, and that information stays between you and us, unless sharing it is necessary for safety or legal reasons.”
- The Trevor Projectfor LGBTQ+ young people
- The operator’s own instructions are “Call 866-488-7386” and “Text START to 678-678”, with chat through TrevorChat.org. It states that it is available 24/7, 365 days per year.
- Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotlineguidance, not a report
- Its own instructions are “CALL 800.422.4453” and “TEXT ‘GO’ TO 800.422.4453”, with live chat from its site, and counselors who “are available 24/7”. Read the two warnings it gives about itself before you call: “The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline is NOT a reporting line for child abuse”, and “The hotline is NOT connected to emergency services nor is it a replacement for 911 emergency responsive services.” A report goes to your state child protection agency, or to 911.
- National Domestic Violence Hotline
- Its own instructions are “Call 800.799.SAFE (7233)” and “Text START to 88788”, with advocate chat from thehotline.org, 24/7/365. The Deaf Hotline video phone is 855.812.1001. StrongHearts, for Native American and Alaska Native callers, is 844.762.8483.
- love is respectNational Teen Dating Abuse Helpline
- Its own instructions are “Call 1-866-331-9474” and “Text ‘LOVEIS’ to 22522”, with chat from loveisrespect.org, where advocates “are available 24/7”. It is run by the National Domestic Violence Hotline. In Spanish: espanol.loveisrespect.org.
- SAMHSA National Helplinenot a crisis line
- For finding treatment rather than for an emergency: 1-800-662-HELP (4357). SAMHSA describes it as a “treatment referral and information service (in English and Spanish) for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders”, available “24/7, 365-day-a-year”.
If your teen wants to know what happens to what they say, they can ask the service directly: “What happens with what I tell you?” Every one of these services will answer that question. Ask it at the start of the conversation, not after.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline gives this warning about using any chat service: “Internet usage can be monitored and is impossible to erase completely.”
This page exists so that it is never hard to find.
If someone is being hurt right now, or is about to be, call 911. That is not a failure of parenting and it is not an escalation you have chosen. It is what the number is for.
Before you tell any service anything
None of the services below is unconditionally confidential, and at least one of them says so about itself in plain terms. That is not a reason to avoid them. It is a reason to ask one question first:
What happens with what I tell you?
Ask it at the start of the call, the chat or the text. A service that answers it clearly is a service you can use knowingly. This site will not tell you that any of them is anonymous, because that is not ours to promise and in at least one case it would not be true.