A new report examined the rollout of the 988 mental health crisis line in each state, including Minnesota.
The revamped National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is nearing its second anniversary. While the report from the mental health advocacy organization Inseparable said progress is needed, it noted the change was a critical step toward providing better care. Minnesota is among the states praised for adopting a telecom fee to ensure stable financing of call center operations.
Sue Abderholden, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness-Minnesota, said another positive is the near 90% answer rate for calls here. She suggested more people need to know about the service to call in.
“It’s still a small percentage of people that know about 988,” Abderholden acknowledged. “We need to continue to publicize that.”
Abderholden pointed out not included in the report is the fact all Minnesota counties have a mobile response team for stabilizing crisis situations. She does worry some law enforcement agencies have taken steps to develop their own in-house teams, potentially creating confusion and privacy concerns.
The report’s authors said the overall goal is to reduce the effects of “deficient” crisis response. Since 2015, almost one in five fatal police shootings involved a person experiencing a mental health emergency.
Angela Kimball, chief advocacy officer for Inseparable, said too often, there is a tragic outcome when people cannot get the necessary help.
“At a less severe level, we see a lot of people who end up in crowded emergency departments,” Kimball observed. “Frankly, emergency departments are getting so filled up with people with severe mental health challenges that they’re experiencing something called ‘ED boarding.'”
ED boarding refers to holding people in the emergency room as they await services. Meanwhile, the report found more than 80% of calls to 988 are resolved over the phone and for those who required mobile response teams, 70% are resolved in the field.
Mike Moen writes for the Minnesota News Connection.