A number for behavioral health emergencies, 988, could help 911 backlogs
A new three-digit national phone number will be available for Florida to use as a help line for behavioral health needs, starting in July 2022. Will Florida be ready?
The number, 988, will take the place of the national 10-digit suicide prevention hotline, 800-273-TALK. The 988 number could be used as an alternative to 911 to provide around-the-clock response for behavioral health emergencies.
Imagine calling 988 and speaking with a “care traffic controller” who can send a mobile response team to your home, with workers trained to deescalate a crisis and find you or your loved one help. This will be possible if communities coordinate the use of the 988 number with mobile response teams and community-based mental health services. A 2014 federal report shows that mobile crisis teams reduce psychiatric hospitalizations.
Diverting behavioral health emergency calls from 911 to a behavioral health call center with backup services would save money. Law enforcement would not need to respond to many behavioral health calls. Taxpayers would pay for fewer emergency room visits by uninsured patients. Fewer people with mental health issues would wind up homeless on the streets.
And with the proper care, fewer people would die. Drug overdoses kill about 80,000 people a year nationwide; another 48,000 die by suicide.
But money is needed to pay for call centers, response teams and centralized receiving facilities to screen patients and provide immediate care. As in Virginia, the money could come from a small fee added to phone bills, the same way 911 is funded.
A 28-member coalition formed by Florida’s Department of Children and Families’ Office for Suicide Prevention is preparing for Florida’s shift to 988. It will issue a report in October.
The Florida Mental Health Advocacy Coalition, a network that includes local chapters of two of the nation’s premier mental health advocacy groups — the National Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health America — will be asking policymakers to embrace 988 as a cost-efficient way to address behavioral health crises.
Our state legislators need to hear from citizens who understand that people having a behavioral health crisis need help, not handcuffs.
A call for help shouldn’t result in trauma or tragedy. Building a robust 988 crisis response system will move us closer to a respectful and effective response to everyone who experiences a mental health, substance use or suicidal crisis.