Oakton Nonprofit Recruited To Help Busy National Crisis Hotline

OAKTON, VA—Oakton-based PRS has been enlisted to back up the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s hotline and chatline due to a high volume of calls. Two federal grants were awarded to the nonprofit to help answer calls from people in crisis and reduce wait times.

PRS has operated Northern Virginia’s hotline and textline for years. Now it will become part of the subnetwork of crisis centers that can answer overflow calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline from around the U.S.

Lately callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline may encounter wait times, and sometimes chats could go unanswered when queues build up. Now if a local center is backed up, calls can be rolled over to PRS CrisisLink.

"With increased stressors and greater emphasis on mental health, more people are reaching out for help via phone and online," said Wendy Gradison, President & CEO, PRS, in a statement. "Fully staffing our center is a priority to ensure we are serving as many people as possible with little to no wait times to help people during their time of need."

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline's 160 local centers like PRS CrisisLink typically answer local calls. PRS CrisisLink gets about 4,500 monthly calls from Northern Virginia, and some from other areas of the state.

By joining the network for the national hotline, PRS CrisisLink anticipates its call volume will more than double. That's why it will hire up to 30 additional staff and more volunteers. It's currently run by 30 staff and 50 to 70 volunteers.

Full-time positions with benefits and part-time positions are available. Crisis workers must be 21 and over and undergo more than 60 hours of training.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available 24 hours a day by calling 1-800-273-8255. To send a chat support, visit https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat/