![]() ![]() “We know that taking someone in a behavioral crisis to jail or the emergency room is usually not the right answer. ![]() The presenters for the virtual session offered several memorable quotes: Debra Pinals, Director of Program in Psychiatry, Law and Ethics, University of Michigan Kent McKenzie, Director of Communications, Lake County Sheriff’s office, Lake County IL.April Heinze, Director of 911 and PSAP Operations, National Emergency Number Association.Currently, the majority of behavioral health crisis calls go to 911 call centers and Pew’s analysis suggests many 911 call-takers and dispatchers are ill-prepared to navigate those calls and determine whether a response should involve law enforcement, emergency medical services or crisis services. The implementation plan approved by the FCC established a timeline to make 988 operational nationwide by July 16, 2022, with calls routing through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. ![]() Pew webinar reviews survey findingsįollowing the release of the survey results, Pew held a webinar to discuss the results, as well as the implementation of the new 988 number, formally designated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as a nationwide number for mental health crisis and suicide prevention services. The Pew reports suggest that in addition to some call centers missing critical resources, a number have data reporting challenges that could hamper efforts to improve the system. The findings indicate many disparities in 911 response to behavioral health crisis calls. ![]() Seven, or about one in five, reported no awareness of access to behavioral health clinicians or crisis-trained 911 call takers, law enforcement officers, fire personnel and EMTs, and they had no access or awareness of access to any mobile response teams.Some call centers do not have or were not aware of having any specialized resources to address behavioral health crisis calls.Even when a call is determined to involve a crisis, many call centers said they had limited specialized dispatch options on law enforcement officers when crisis training.While some use scripts to identify crisis calls, many said they rely on the expertise and experience of the call takers in the 911 call center.Less than half said they had access to behavioral health clinicians.This can impact how they handle calls, whether they can identify whether the calls involve behavioral health crisis and who gets dispatched to address the call. Few of the responding call centers reported having staff with behavioral health crisis training.Key findings from the Pew 911 survey report The Pew survey found that few of the responding call centers had staff with behavioral health crisis training. Three dozen responses from 911 call centers across 27 states were received and while the responses can’t be considered nationally representative, they provide a window into the state of 911 behavioral health crisis response in the United States. Pew recently surveyed 233 call centers across the country to better understand how behavioral health crisis calls are currently handled by 911 (survey report available in full below). The Pew Charitable Trust, an independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, has launched a national effort to improve approaches to people in behavioral health crisis and encourage communities to offer a continuum of appropriate services. Who answers these calls and how they are handled can determine whether the incident ends safely, if the person in crisis is arrested, or if they are connected to the resources that can provide assistance. Every year, millions of emergency calls involving a person with a mental health or substance use disorder are received in dispatch centers – situations often referred to as behavioral health crises. ![]()
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