In the wake of the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida, there are more calls about school threats coming into one of the largest crisis hotlines in the state.
Youth Villages has a triage center with trained counselors to field a constant flow of calls on a daily basis from schools, parents, friends or police about a teenager expressing thoughts of suicide, murder or severe depression.
In the last two weeks, there has been an uptick of calls regarding school violence or threats of school violence.
"We started getting more calls from schools specifically around threats or perceived threats of violence in the school setting. We found peers might recognize another peer had posted something concerning on social media and as a result, told a trusted adult and that adult ended up reaching out to us," said Director of Specialized Crisis Services Brittany Farrar.
Farrar said there is more heightened awareness about threats and in return, would receive more calls.
The nonprofit organization has a statewide crisis hotline that serves 70 percent of the counties in Tennessee.
Offer can be helped over the phone or by sending counselors to the parent, school or police in person.
"About 60 to 70 percent of our calls result in a face to face assessment but there are some calls we are able to handle by phone," added Farrar.
Since the Parkland shooting, there have been more than 40 calls needing face to face assessment.
There were were 1,429 calls to Youth Villages in February with 756 requiring face to face assessment.
There were 343 more calls compared to last year.
Call (866) 791-9221 if you live in the North Middle region counties: Stewart, Montgomery, Robertson, Sumner, Houston, Humphreys, Dickson, Cheatham.
Call (866) 791-9222 if you live in the South Middle region counties: Perry, Hickman, Williamson, Rutherford, Perry, Lewis, Maury, Marshall, Bedford, Coffee, Moore, Wayne, Lawrence, Giles, Lincoln.
Call (866) 791-9224 if you live in the Upper Cumberland region counties: Macon, Clay, Pickett, Fentress, Overton, Jackson, Smith, Wilson, Putnam, DeKalb, White, Cumberland, Cannon, Warren, Trousdale.
Since Youth Villages does not include Davidson County, people can call Mental Health Cooperative at 855-274-7471.
Calls can also be made to the Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Service's TN Statewide Crisis Phone Line at 855-CRISIS-1 (855-274-7471).
A spokesperson said calls relating to youth lines are in with the average of 1,550 calls per month.
There were 17,791 calls relating to youth in 2016.
There were 18,607 calls in 2017.
