Innovative 988 Crisis Service Systems for Children, Youth, and People with Disabilities
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Associated Project
Policy and Data Analysis to Support the Office of Behavioral Health, Disability, and Aging Policy
Prepared for:
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
Key Findings
- 988 and pre-existing crisis service lines are a common service entry point for special populations in crisis. In the five states in this study, call takers triage calls from special populations much the same as other 988 callers, but tailor the crisis response to the specific caller and circumstances of the crisis.
- Cross-agency collaboration at the state level facilitates development of common goals and procedures. Trusting relationships and free exchange of information between state agencies leading 988 implementation and contracted 988 providers is also critical.
- State political and legislative support influences and enhances states’ abilities to serve special populations.
- States braid together many sources of funding to finance crisis services for special populations, and state officials highlighted this as a primary challenge.
In 2020, Congress designated the new 988 dialing code to be operated through the existing National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline was established to improve access to immediate support to meet the behavioral health crisis needs in the United States. In July 2022, the new 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline went live, along with an influx of funding for implementation of 988 and mobile crisis services. While these developments provide welcome opportunities to increase access to care for people experiencing crises, existing crisis services systems often lack interventions for populations that might require more specialized crisis response, including children, youth, and people with intellectual, developmental, and neurocognitive disabilities.
Supported by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, this brief identifies innovative state approaches to providing crisis, stabilization, and recovery-oriented supports and services for children, youth, and people with disabilities through the integration and partnership of 988 crisis services systems with other systems beyond law enforcement and emergency medical services. The brief describes partnerships and strategies of five states (Connecticut, Georgia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia) that have focused on developing crisis services for these populations.
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