SACRAMENTO, CA – Assemblymember Mary Hayashi (D-Hayward) will hold a press conference to discuss AB 2667, which will serve to expand access to life-saving 24-hour crisis intervention hotlines in California. Ms. Ester Ybarra Bryant, a former client and now volunteer at the Didi Hirsch Community Mental Health Center, will share her personal story about how a crisis hotline saved her own life after her son had died by suicide. The press conference will take place in the Governor’s Press Room at the State Capitol on Tuesday, April 1, 2008 at 1:15 pm.

In 2004, over 16,000 Californians attempted suicide, with 3,300 dying by suicide each year. Crisis hotlines are a critical part of preventing suicide, providing immediate support and skilled intervention. Last year, over 34,000 calls were made to Suicide Prevention Lifeline Network call centers in California, and over 1,500 individuals were saved from immediate life-threatening situations. Yet 30 percent of these California callers –approximately 10,000– had to be re-routed to call centers in other states.

AB 2667 seeks to save thousands of lives by ensuring that Californians have access to crisis intervention services in their local area. The bill will require all counties to establish or have access to a 24-hour crisis intervention hotline by January 1, 2012. This legislation will allow individuals in crisis throughout California to receive both the immediate support and longer term case management that local crisis hotlines provide.