Case Study: Crisis Text Line achieves near-instant crisis response and nationwide data insights with Twilio

Crisis Text Line Fights an Epidemic with Data

Crisis Text Line, founded and led by Nancy Lublin, is a nonprofit tech hybrid that supports people in crisis via Twilio SMS—helping those facing suicidal thoughts, abuse, addiction and more. Their core challenge is delivering immediate, life‑saving help in the “heat of the moment” (measured in minutes and seconds), scaling to meet nationwide demand, and turning millions of conversations into actionable insights for policymakers.

They built a data‑driven response system: trained counselors using mirroring techniques, KPIs and real‑time dashboards to prioritize responses (83% sub‑5 minute, with sub‑1.4 minute targets for high‑risk “code orange” cases), and anonymized aggregation of nearly 20 million texts into maps and reports on crisistrends.org. The result is rapid, measurable crisis intervention at scale, clearer hotspot data for smarter policy and funding decisions, and a growing national conversation about preventing crisis before it starts.

Crisis Text Line

Nancy Lublin

Co-Founder and Cheif Information Officer