Spotlight on our local partner, PRS Crisis Link
PRS CrisisLink is an accredited program of PRS, Inc. and serves northern Virginia and has been serving the community since 1969. PRS CrisisLink is located in Arlington but provides service to Alexandria City, Arlington, Fairfax, Falls Church, Loudoun and Prince William. Volunteers and staff are trained in active and reflective listening, crisis de-escalation, suicide intervention, information and referrals and emotional support. PRS CrisisLink uses the public health approach to suicide prevention to provide immediate crisis services, connection to mental health and primary care as well as risk assessments, community training and survivor support to connect the community to valuable resources and support.
The PRS CrisisLink hotline is staffed by trained crisis counselors to answer calls regarding emotional, situational and life crises. Crisis counselors are trained help those in suicide crisis work through stressors, build a safety framework and provide referrals to mental health, financial, and social resources. Annually, CrisisLink handles over 35,000 calls from those in crisis and upwards of 15-17% are currently thinking of suicide. CrisisLink understands how difficult it can be for those in the community who are struggling with their thoughts and emotions and provides a safe, empathic and non-judgmental call to support those who need it most. These calls are free and confidential and the hotline can be reached at 703-527-4077 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
Since 2014, CrisisLink has also offered the PRS CrisisText Connect program, a 24/7 crisis textline for those in northern Virginia. CrisisText Connect was designed to reach young people in crisis when a phone call is too difficult to make Crisis texters reach out to talk about relationship problems, school pressures, mental health concerns and suicide. Our crisis counselors are trained to provide non-judgmental emotional support and to help youth develop skills to cope with life stressors. Since the launch of CrisisText Connect, PRS CrisisLink has handled over 6,000 text conversations and exchanged over a quarter million text messages. If you are interested in connecting with the textline, you can text the word “CONNECT” to 85511 to speak with a crisis counselor today.
Another important program offered by PRS CrisisLink is the CareRing program. CareRing provides daily phone calls to at-risk older adults and adults with serious mental illness for social support, medication and health behavior reminders and general welfare checks. CareRing clients are scheduled at a specific time each day that is convenient for their schedule. CareRing counselors ensure each client is safe, supported and connected to services they need to live independently in the community. CareRing services are free to the community and enrollment is currently being accepted.
Finally, PRS CrisisLink offers Suicide Survivor Support Groups for young adults ages 18-26 and adults in open and closed group formats. Both groups will reopen in July of 2016 for new members. All support groups are free and located in either Arlington or Mclean.
Beyond the crisis center, PRS CrisisLink provides community training in youth suicide prevention, Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training, community suicide prevention and active listening. For more information on PRS CrisisLink and all of their program offerings, please visit prsinc.org/crisislink.
