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Urgent help — who to call right now
If someone is in danger this second, stop reading and call 911. Everything below is sorted so you can find the right number in seconds — big buttons, one tap to call.
●Last reviewed August 2026 · every number checked against an official source, listed at the bottom
Our forms and email are not monitored for emergencies. Use the numbers on this page instead — nobody checks the contact form or hello@ourspecialvillagetn.com in real time.
Immediate danger — call 911
Any time someone’s life, safety, or health is at risk right now, call 911. Tell the dispatcher what’s happening and where you are. If it’s safe to, say early that an autistic or disabled person is involved — see what to tell dispatch below.
Your child is missing
The first few minutes matter most. In order:
- Call 911 immediately. Say your child is autistic or has a disability and may not respond to their name or come when called.
- Check water first — pools, ponds, creeks, retention ponds — before anywhere else.
- Have a recent photo and a description of what they’re wearing ready to give responders.
- Tell them what draws your child’s attention — water, roads, trains, playgrounds, a particular light or sound.
- Ask about an Endangered Child Alert. That’s Tennessee’s alert for a missing child of concern — not a Silver Alert, which Tennessee reserves for missing adults, and not an AMBER Alert, which requires evidence of abduction.
- Keep one person by the phone or the door in case your child is found or comes back on their own.
Afterward: our safety and elopement guide covers prevention and how to prepare before this happens.
Source: Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, missing-children alert criteria, checked Aug 2026.
In emotional or mental-health crisis
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Call or text 988, or chat online at 988lifeline.org. Free and confidential, 24 hours a day — for you, or for someone you’re worried about.
Source: 988lifeline.org, checked Aug 2026.
Tennessee’s crisis lines
For any Tennessee mental-health crisis — adult, teen, or child — call or text 988 and press 0. That connects you to a trained counselor at the crisis provider covering your county, day or night.
Tennessee also runs a longstanding statewide crisis line that still works around the clock:
For a child or teen up to age 18 having a psychiatric emergency, the same numbers reach Tennessee’s youth mobile-crisis network. The state contracts this out by county to four regional providers — including Youth Villages Specialized Crisis Services, which covers several Tennessee counties. Tennessee’s own county list places Rutherford County with a different provider, McNabb Center. You don’t need to know any agency’s name: 988 (press 0) or the number above routes you automatically to the right one.
Source: tn.gov/behavioral-health and tn.gov/behavioral-health/crisis/children.html (Tennessee Dept. of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services), checked Aug 2026. 855-274-7471 is listed by Tennessee’s regional crisis providers; the newest tn.gov pages lead with 988.
Poison Control
Swallowed, inhaled, or touched something that might be toxic? Call — free, confidential, 24/7. They would much rather hear from you and be wrong than not hear from you at all.
Source: poisonhelp.org, checked Aug 2026.
Reporting child abuse or neglect
Tennessee Child Abuse Hotline, staffed 24 hours a day, every day. You don’t need proof — a concern is enough, and you can report anonymously.
You can also report online at apps.tn.gov/carat.
Source: Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, checked Aug 2026.
What to tell dispatch or police
When the emergency involves an autistic or disabled person, say so in your first sentence, not partway through the call.
- How they communicate. Do they talk? Use a device, pictures, or sign? They may not answer to their name or a direct question.
- What calms them, if you know.
- No sense of danger. Around traffic, water, or strangers — many autistic people don’t register risk the way you’d expect.
- Sensory sensitivities. Sirens, flashing lights, being grabbed or touched, a raised voice — any of these can make things worse fast.
- They may run, hide, or go still and not respond to commands. That’s not defiance.
- Any medical needs — seizures, medications, allergies.
Ask responders to approach slowly and quietly, skip the raised voice, and let a trusted adult stay close if it’s safe to.
Our forms and email are not monitored for emergencies. For anything urgent, use the numbers on this page, not the contact form.
Where this comes from
988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
Official source for calling, texting, or chatting 988.
TDMHSAS — Tennessee’s 988 crisis page
Tennessee’s official page on reaching the statewide crisis network through 988.
TDMHSAS — Services for Children and Youth
The state’s county-by-county list of youth mobile-crisis providers, including Rutherford County’s.
Youth Villages — Specialized Crisis Services
One of Tennessee’s four regional youth crisis providers, describing its own coverage and the statewide crisis line.
Poison Help — America’s Poison Centers
Official site for Poison Control, run with CDC, FDA, and HRSA.
Tennessee DCS — Child Abuse Hotline FAQ
The Department of Children’s Services page confirming the hotline number, hours, and online reporting.
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation — Missing Children Alerts
The criteria for an AMBER Alert versus an Endangered Child Alert, and how Silver Alerts differ (adults only).