A quick google suggests the average hourly wage of a social worker in the US is $29/hr — would they be better prepared/trained to do well at this work?
I think this point holds as long as we grant that the estimated cost to staff a hotline is anywhere within this order of magnitude, suggesting that this is one of the most cost-effective mental healthcare + life-saving interventions we’ve ever identified, particularly in wealthy countries.
Of course, the specifics of implementation would be way more challenging than just writing a check. It would only be if the cost of staffing a hotline with competent employees came out to be 10x or 100x more than the $15-30 range that I think this argument wouldn’t apply.
A quick google suggests the average hourly wage of a social worker in the US is $29/hr — would they be better prepared/trained to do well at this work?
I think this point holds as long as we grant that the estimated cost to staff a hotline is anywhere within this order of magnitude, suggesting that this is one of the most cost-effective mental healthcare + life-saving interventions we’ve ever identified, particularly in wealthy countries.
Of course, the specifics of implementation would be way more challenging than just writing a check. It would only be if the cost of staffing a hotline with competent employees came out to be 10x or 100x more than the $15-30 range that I think this argument wouldn’t apply.