Call 988: California finds $20 million to help pay for new mental crisis hotline

SOON, CALIFORNIANS WILL be able to dial a new three-digit number when seeking help for a mental health crisis. 

After weeks in which funding to make the hotline work in California seemed uncertain, the state Department of Health Care Services announced late today that it would spend $20 million to help support the 988 network — billed as a “robust statewide call center” designed to be an alternative to 9-1-1 calls.