Hear Me WA: Attorney General's youth well-being line provides 24/7 crisis triage and has made 500+ referrals

Erica Chang, youth program outreach coordinator at the Attorney General's Office, described Hear Me WA as a statewide, youth-centered reporting and referral system that opened in 2024 and provides 24/7 access to trained crisis counselors and local tip responders.

"Hear Me WA is a free resource," Chang said. The program connects youth (or adults reporting on behalf of youth) to crisis counselors at the Sandy Hook Promise National Crisis Center, triages tips into three urgency levels (life-safety, urgent and critical), and refers incidents to appropriate responders such as 911, schools, behavioral health services or child protective services depending on case urgency.

Chang said Hear Me WA has made over 500 referrals and has received tips from individuals in 24 counties; the program is supported by a Hear Me WA youth advisory group that includes 25 young people aged 10 to 25 representing 18 counties. Outreach metrics include approximately 335 outreach meetings and targeted county-level outreach to increase awareness in rural areas and historically underserved counties.

Operational model and privacy: Crisis counselors perform intake and warm transfers when in-person crisis response is required; email and text notifications to tip responders do not include tip details but alert agencies that a tip exists in the Hear Me WA tip manager. Chang said the program is not opt-in/opt-out and that the AGO's advisory and youth groups will continue to inform implementation and equity reviews.

Next steps: Hear Me WA staff will continue targeted outreach to priority counties and recruit advisory members; task force members were invited to request promotional materials and training on the tip manager.