Governor: Phone line offers mental health help for Arkansans

A new phone line will help connect Arkansans with a rapidly rising number of mental health or drug addiction counselors, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Wednesday.

The Arkansas Department of Human Services contracted with the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, a Little Rock-based nonprofit group, for $248,000 to operate the help line, said Amy Webb, a department spokeswoman.

“We have a challenge across the nation in terms of drug addiction as well as adequate providing of mental health services across our country. And Arkansas is no exception to those challenges that we face,” Hutchinson said during a news conference.

Residents can call 1-844763-0198 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday to access the help line. The line had a “soft launch” at the start of July so the department could identify and resolve any kinks, Webb said.

When residents call, staff members will give them up to six recommendations for counseling providers in their areas. If none of those recommendations work out, residents can call the help line again, said Patricia Gann, assistant director of the department’s Division of Aging, Adult & Behavioral Health Services.

The recommendations will come from a database of providers, and staff members

will be able to match people with providers based on their needs and type of insurance coverage. The database took about a year to build, Gann said.

The state established the help line as the number of providers who are licensed to give mental health or drug addiction counseling increased by more than 500% since 2017, Hutchinson said.

In 2017, the state had 31 independently licensed providers for mental health and drug addiction counseling. Now, it has 207, according to a news release from the governor’s office.

The number of behavioral health agency sites has also increased from 253 to 311, according to the news release.

Hutchinson attributed the climbing numbers to 2017 changes in Medicaid funding rules.

The rule changes included allowing more providers to accept the Medicaid money, adjusting the reimbursement rates to “encourage the expansion of counseling services across Arkansas,” allowing counseling providers and primary care physicians to work in the same office and decreasing the “administrative burden” on providers, Hutchinson said.

These changes made it easier for residents, particularly those in under-served areas of Arkansas, to access services, Hutchinson said.

“I was very pleased with the result of these changes,” he added.

Hutchinson said these efforts complement the state’s efforts to improve mental health care through regional crisis stabilization units. The units are an alternative to jail for those going through mental health crises.

The first opened in March 2018 in Fort Smith. Washington and Pulaski counties each have a unit, and a fourth is under construction in Craighead County.

In 2017, the state had 31 independently licensed providers for mental health and drug addiction counseling. Now, it has 207.