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Resident urges local adoption of 741741 crisis text line, warns of gaps after recent 988 changes
Summary
A Brookings resident told the council the region has a high suicide rate and urged local agencies and schools to promote the 741741 crisis text line after changes to 988 services; he cited local suicide counts and demographic patterns in texter data.
Gordon Clay, a Brookings resident, urged the city council on Sept. 22 to promote the 741741 crisis text line for people in crisis and raised concerns about changes to 988 services that he said reduced targeted options for LGBTQ callers.
“For suicide prevention month… last year we had 11 suicides which put us fifth in the state on suicides for 100,000 people,” Clay told the council. “So far this year we’ve had 5 through July… it looks like we’re on the same trajectory.”
Clay said that until mid‑July, callers to 988 could dial options that routed them to specific resources (he described menus for veterans, Spanish speakers and LGBTQ callers), but that the “plus 3” option for a targeted LGBTQ response had been removed. He urged the council and local school officials to consider promoting 741741 — a national crisis text line he described as using artificial intelligence and a specialized texting protocol that better recognizes emojis and youth texting patterns.
Clay cited data he said indicated a high proportion of 741741 texters are young people and LGBTQ callers, and he said the text line’s technology helps identify more acute rescue risks. “The big reason that I promote 741741… is they are the only text crisis line in the United States that I’m aware of that uses AI,” Clay told the council, adding that certain emoji combinations can indicate substantially higher immediate risk.
Council members thanked Clay for raising the issue. City officials said they would publicize resources and noted the school district and county had been spoken to already.
Why it matters: Clay’s comments highlighted local suicide counts and the potential vulnerability of youth and LGBTQ residents. Council members and staff expressed appreciation and said they would follow up with outreach and school officials.
Ending: Council members encouraged community members to spread the information and said staff would post resource information on the city website and social channels as appropriate.
