Recent Legislation Will Provide Funding for 988 Implementation

Several lynchpin events have occurred recently to greatly enhance the potential structure, operation, and effectiveness of the new 988 system, slated to go into effect in July 2022. As you know already, this new system will replace 911 for all behavioral health crisis calls. The goal is to have a uniform national system available for everyone throughout the United States.

The new system will uncouple behavioral healthcare responses to psychiatric and substance use crises from more traditional police responses that occur with the 911 system. Complete national coverage will be developed for the new system, with appropriate local communication and human resource handoffs when required.

Three principal components must be in place to make this vision a reality: a well-staffed national call system, appropriate communication and broadband capacity throughout the country, and a trained local staff capable of responding quickly to calls that are transferred from the national system for local action. This local capacity should include telephone responders, mobile crisis teams, and diversion center staff.

The national call system already has received funding through various pieces of legislation, including the American Rescue Plan. Until just recently, funding for the other two components was far less certain.

Just a week ago, Congress passed and sent to President Joe Biden a major piece of legislation on infrastructure. This legislation provides a $65 billion investment to improve the nation’s broadband infrastructure, particularly for our rural communities. It also aims to decrease the price for internet services by requiring federal funding recipients to offer a low-cost affordable plan, creating price transparency, and boosting competition where current providers aren’t offering adequate services. This legislation will do much to address the need for internet and communication services that local communities require in order to respond when contacted by a 988 staff person for a handoff of a crisis call.

Further, last week, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an element of the US Department of Health and Human Services, announced through the Federal Register a new investment of $152 million for staffing and support of local centers to respond to 988 calls. Further, SAMHSA expects to make another $105 million available to invest in the necessary community workforce going forward.

Important in all of this is the fact that laser attention is being paid to all 3 components that will be required in order to stand up and operate a successful 988 system—the national 988 grid and staff, state and local broadband infrastructure, and local trained staff who will receive call handoffs.

Kudos to SAMHSA and the outstanding leadership provided by Dr Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, assistant secretary for mental health and substance use and SAMHSA administrator, for addressing the need for funding to make local trained staff available for this important work.    

Ron Manderscheid, PhD, is the former president and CEO of NACBHDD and NARMH, as well as an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the USC School of Social Work.

The views expressed in Perspectives are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Behavioral Healthcare Executive, the Psychiatry & Behavioral Health Learning Network, or other Network authors. Perspectives entries are not medical advice.