Ohio Governor, Mike DeWine was joined by Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services Director, Lori Criss and Ohio 988 Administrator, Doug Jackson to reflect on the one year anniversary of the 988 suicide hotline.

Sunday, July 16 will mark the one year anniversary of the new 988 hotline in Ohio and across the country.  Governor DeWine says his administration is working to strengthen and expand Ohio's crisis care system to anyone experiencing a mental health or addiction crisis.

"The 988 lifeline is a 24/7 resource for Ohioans and it is saving lives," DeWine said.

On average, over 12,000 Ohioans per month experiencing or affected by suicidal, mental health or addiction crises have called this hotline to receive support and connections to local resources.

21 News reached out to Mahoning County Mental Health Director, Duane Piccirelli, who tells us he doesn't have the exact statistic for how many suicides or calls to the hotline there have been in the county this year.

However, Piccirelli does tell us that so far in 2023, every suicide in Mahoning County has been committed by a middle-aged or older male. Piccirelli went on to say while women attempt suicide more, men complete it more stating that this is because men tend to use firearms to commit suicide.

Trumbull County Mental Health and Recovery Board Director of School and Community Wellness, Carol Holmes-Chambers says this trend is similar in Trumbull County but cites a difference in age groups rather than sex for attempt versus completion.

So far, Trumbull County has had 11 suicides this year and had a total of 26 last year. According to Holmes-Chambers, this appears to be consistent with last year's numbers at this time.

Criss says the goal of this hotline is to make help for those experiencing these crises more visible, accessible and effective.

Governor DeWine and the Ohio Legislature provided $46.5 million in funding in the recently-passed state budget to sustain operations for the next two years.

Within the past year, over 400 staff members both part and full time with a wide variety of backgrounds and education have been trained to respond to callers.

"Ohio's call center staff are truly unsung heroes. They work around the clock to help Ohioans in crisis. We're grateful for their dedicated service and look forward to continuing to partner with them to strengthen and improve our response network," Jackson said.