On September 15, 2025, DHCS launched a comprehensive billboard campaign, with billboards strategically placed for diverse audiences throughout California.
The campaign’s goal is to build awareness, educate, and drive adoption of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (988) statewide, with a focus on youth and young adults, particularly on boys and young men (ages 18–24). This emphasis is in direct response to Governor Gavin Newsom’s July 2025 executive order calling for targeted action in California to address the mental health crisis among young men and boys.
This campaign is organized in the following two phases.
Phase 1
The first six weeks of the 988 campaign, phase I, involves straightforward, strong messaging and images for various audiences. The creative highlights 988 as a suicide and crisis lifeline where individuals can seek help via call, text, or chat. Phase I features a men and boys series, and other imagery for various audiences.
Phase 2
After the entire state is saturated with these strong messages, phase II begins. This is when additional messaging is introduced into the mix with added images and taglines for target audiences.
As part of phase II activities, billboard content was translated into California’s top five non-English languages—Vietnamese, Chinese, Tagalog, Spanish, Korean.
Additionally, 988 Tribal artwork was created in partnership with a California Native American artist through the California Consortium of Urban Indian Health (CCUIH). This artwork was incorporated into the 988 billboards placed throughout California.
Additional Awareness Efforts
To further support 988 awareness efforts, DHCS created a 988 flyer and posters with the same “look and feel” as the 988 billboard campaign.
Also created were 988 Tribal flyers and 988 Tribal posters with the same “look and feel” of the 988 Tribal billboards.
