Politics & Government
Online Chat for Suicide Prevention Introduced in Contra Costa
The Contra Costa Crisis Center, which offers a 24-hour crisis telephone hotline, is going online, trying out a live computer chat service for four hours per day.

The Contra Costa Crisis Center, which provides a 24-hour suicide-prevention hotline by telephone, has gone online with a test version of live "Crisis Chat" service.
The service, which operates 3-7 p.m., allows those who wish to speak to a crisis counselor to do so through via computer.
The Contra Costa Crisis Center is one of six crisis centers in the nation testing the new online services for suicide prevention.
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The tests are being conducted for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, a program of U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The idea is to develop data to show if suicide prevention and crisis intervention can be done effectively online, according to a news release by the Contra Costa Crisis Center.
This supplements 24-hour telephone hotlines the center has to address suicide, child abuse, elder abuse, brief and homeless issues.
For crisis and suicide issues, call 800.273.TALK or 800.SUICIDE; 888.628.9454 for Spanish; or see the crisis center site online.
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