AG Bob Ferguson launching WA youth helpline

WA launches mental health crisis hotline for kids

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson unveiled a new statewide youth helpline.

SEATTLE - Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson unveiled a new statewide youth helpline.

In a Tuesday news conference, Ferguson announced HearMeWA, which is a first-of-its-kind statewide reporting system focused on the safety and well-being of Washingtonians up to age 25.

The helpline aims to connect young people in an easier way to a wide range of existing support services, by offering a direct line to a national crisis center 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Crisis Connections leads on new 988 suicide prevention hotline

Crisis Connections, which is leading the implementation of the new 988 Crisis and Suicide Lifeline in the Seattle area, said the new national 3-digit hotline will make it easier to people to get help.

Reporting to HearMeWA can be done through phone, text, online or in a mobile app. Once a report is filed, highly trained crisis counselors will field all the calls and connect the person with services providers who can help.

Teens from the Youth Advisory Group helped design and build the program.

The Attorney General's office reported data shows that eating disorders in adolescents more than doubled from 2018 to 2022. The rate of young people dealing with depression doubled from 2009 to 2019, to nearly 16%. According to Forbes, 57.7% of Washington youth with depression do not receive mental health services.