Police shooting shows need for 988 mental health hotline

In June 2019, Walnut Creek resident Taun Hall made a call to police as she had done several times before, letting them know her son, Miles, was experiencing a mental health crisis and needed help.

Recognizing that her son was a young Black man in an affluent White community, Taun feared for his safety and made it a priority to develop relationships with neighbors and local law enforcement so they knew he lived with a serious mental illness and wasn't a threat.

But despite her best efforts and years of proactive work to protect her son, Taun couldn't stop the tragedythat unfolded that day. Officers fatally shot

Miles within minutes of arriving on the scene. She says the police didn't attempt to properly assess and de-escalate the situation, even though they had received mental health training and knew about his condition.

What happened to Miles is unfortunately part of a long-established and troubling trend: Nearly one in four people killed by police lives with a serious mental illness, with a disproportionate impact on people of color.

There's hope that 988, the new federally mandated mental health emergency hotline, will offer a more holistic, non-police alternative to help people, like Miles, in their moments of crisis. But many states have struggled to implement 988 services even though the hotline is set to launch July 16.

In California, Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, D-Orinda, has introduced AB 988, otherwise known as the Miles Hall Lifeline and Suicide Prevention Act, to ensure that no other family has to endure such a violent response to their loved one's mental health emergency. The bill would create a sustainable funding stream for 988 call centers so they can provide the compassionate, appropriate and easily accessible care that people in crisis deserve.

This includes having 988 call centers staffed by trained counselors who can be readily reached 24/7 via call, text or chat and point people to a more effective continuum of care rather than having them languish in emergency rooms and jails. The bill would also adopt a “care response” to mental health crises where teams of mental health professionals and trained peer specialists would be sent on distress calls instead of armed law enforcement.

As mental health advocates who work directly with people living with serious mental illness, we know this health-first approach to crisis calls is not only a more practical, cost-effective and dignified way to help people but it has been proven time and again to save lives. A recent Stanford study found that Denver's care response program, STAR, had even led to a 34% reduction in crime simply by reducing police presence on mental health calls.

Now that AB 988 has passed out of two key state Senate committees with bipartisan support, California has the opportunity to lead the nation on mental health and ensure people in crisis receive the right care response, efficiently and effectively, every time.

We owe families like the Hall's an easy, safe and fully funded mental health system that addresses crises with treatment, not punishment or harm. Passing AB 988 is a first, crucial step and it's time for lawmakers to take action.

Jennifer Wang is the senior director of national policy and advocacy for Fountain House, a nonprofit organization fighting to improve the health and dignity of people most impacted by mental illness. Tamara Hunter is executive director of Putnam Clubhouse in Contra Costa County, a member-led community for people living with serious mental illness.