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Communities across the country have pushed for years to divert emergency mental health calls away from 911 and police. Now, as the nation launches the 988 calling code for mental health crises, some advocates wonder if the system is ready to deliver real-time, culturally appropriate services to meet the immense demand.
In 2020, Congress passed theNational Suicide Hotline Designation Actestablishing 988 as the universal number to call for free help in a mental health crisis. President Biden set July 16 as the launch date. With funding from the American Rescue Plan, the White House distributed $180 million to municipalities to create “community-based mobile crisis response and crisis stabilizing facilities.”
The goal is to minimize emergency room visits for mental health crises and provide an alternative to calling 911 for assistance.
But excitement about the network has been mixed with concerns about implementation and staff training. Community groups on the front line of the movement to move mental health crisis calls away from the police say they weren’t consulted about best practices during the initial planning of 988. They are concerned that hotline staff may not be fully prepared to respond to communities of color in culturally appropriate ways.
In a poll commissioned by the National Alliance on Mental Illness in June, 85% of Black Americans said they would be afraid the police might hurt them or their loved ones while responding to a mental health crisis. The poll also found that at least seven in 10 Americans believe that mental health crisis responses must be improved for people of color, LGBTQ people, people experiencing homelessness, and people who live in low-income communities.
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