The Department of Veterans Affairs said nearly 700 people reaching out for help by calling its suicide hotline for veterans could not reach a counsleor because of a dozen service outages in fiscal 2024. (Department of Defense)
WASHINGTON — Technical problems with a suicide hotline for veterans caused a dozen service outages in fiscal 2024, making it nearly impossible for individuals in crisis to reach a counselor and get help, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
More than 675 people were affected by dropped calls, texts and chats, according to the VA.
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., sent a letter Monday to VA Secretary Denis McDonough urging him to prioritize finding a permanent fix for the intermittent service disruptions, which varied in duration and geographic areas impacted.
“When this service is not functioning properly, veterans experiencing a mental health crisis are at an increased risk for harm that could be mitigated by a veterans crisis line responder,” said Tester, who is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.
Veterans in crisis dial 988, then press 1, for a direct response from a counselor. They can also text 988 or 838255 for help.
“I have used the 988 hotline a lot. It’s not because I was suicidal at the time but because I needed to talk to someone,” said Mike Archer, a 73-year-old Vietnam veteran who lives in Arizona.
He is 100% disabled from post-traumatic stress disorder and said the crisis line helps him manage symptoms of depression, anxiety and negative thoughts.
“I have felt guilty for surviving while some of the guys didn’t,” said Archer, a former corporal who served in the Army from 1969-1972.
The veterans suicide crisis line receives about 2,100 calls per day on average. A responder spends an average of 43 minutes on a call.
Ten of the service outages in 2024 resulted from problems in services provided by a vendor or carrier, the VA said. Two problems were caused by a breakdown of internal VA equipment.
VA notified Congress in late June about intermittent trouble with operations and access to the crisis line, VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes said.
The VA posted alerts on its web pages and social media platforms when the line was not working.
Most of the veterans received follow-up contact, and there was not an adverse impact from the outages, according to the agency.
The outages varied in scope and impact. Some were limited to carrier issues in specific geographical locations, some were intermittent outages, and others affected individual IT components, according to the VA.
Tester has asked McDonough to report back to Congress after conducting a more comprehensive review of the system’s performance, reasons for the outages and backup procedures for maintaining communications with veterans, when hotline functions are not working.
About 17 veterans on average die by suicide each day, according to the 2023 National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report. The rate was up 11% from the previous year, according to the report.
“With the stakes this high, one disconnected or dropped call or chat is too many,” Tester said.
In VA surveys, veterans report high satisfaction with the crisis line. Since the dedicated line for veterans started in July 2022, counselors have fielded more than 1.63 million calls for help. The hotline reported a 22.7% increase in phone calls per day in 2024, a 76.7% increase in texts per day and a 27.5% increase in chats per day.
“Veterans, their families and caregivers rely on this crisis intervention service. Its role in reducing the risk of veteran suicide cannot be overstated,” Julie Kroviak, principal deputy assistant inspector general for the Office of Health Care Inspections, said last week at a House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing.
The VA plans to add geo-routing capabilities to the hotline to help veterans in crisis connect with local resources. Unlike geolocation, which precisely identifies an individual’s location, geo-routing will send calls to regional centers that can connect veterans with mental health care in their communities without disclosing their home address.
But Archer said he has experienced problems when the crisis line made follow-up referrals to the Tucson VA Medical Center, where he goes for his health care. He said he finds the staff condescending toward veterans.
“I have let them know how it felt to be treated disrespectfully,” Archer said.
The VA also offers veterans peer support after they’ve contacted the crisis hotline.
Archer said a counselor at the crisis hotline gave him the phone number of a veteran peer support specialist.
“I reached out to him, and we talked about veterans benefits,” he said. “But there was not really a connection between us. We served in different conflicts. We talked a few times. But that was it.
