A mental health crisis system is more than a single program. It is an organized set of structures, processes and services in place to meet all types of urgent and emerging mental health crisis needs in a defined population or community, effectively and efficiently. Congress passed the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act, creating a new three-digit dialing code (9-8-8) for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, the nation’s main connection point to suicide prevention and mental health crisis response services. Today, states and communities are transitioning systems to better serve this vulnerable patient population when they experience a crisis.
As the 9-8-8 go-live date of July 2022 quickly approaches, please use the below resources to learn about the full crisis care continuum, and the work that remains to fulfill the promise of 9-8-8 so that everyone, everywhere can have access to high-quality crisis services, when and where they need it them.
A new report from the Committee on Psychiatry and the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry, released by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, outlines the steps we must take now – before the launch of 9-8-8 – to ensure people in crisis receive the high-quality behavioral health services they need.
Roadmap to the Ideal Crisis System