19 October 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The governor’s office on Thursday announced the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services will receive over $5.4 million to improve the local capacity of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
A news release says the funding is coming from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration over three years.
The States and Territories to Improve Local 988 Capacity program will provide $1.9 million in the first year and $1.8 for the two years following to improve response to 988 contacts originating in Kansas.
Those contacts come from phone calls, chats and text messages.
The funding will support the program’s goals of increasing workforce support for the 988 program through:
Hiring, recruiting and training;
Improving the public communication of 9-8-8 services, including those for high-risk populations;
Continuing to expand post-contact support connections with services such as mobile crisis outreach and crisis stabilization services to ensure adults and youth experiencing mental health crisis receive faster access to trained mental health professionals.
“Crisis support and access to mental health care and ensuring more people in crisis get the help and support they need is increasingly critical for Kansans,” KDADS Secretary Laura Howard said in a news release. “Applying for and being selected to receive this new additional 9-8-8 funding reflects our state’s commitment to build on the crisis care framework we have been and continue to develop and strengthen it to provide increased access across our communities.”
KDADS currently partners with three National Suicide Prevention Lifeline contact centers for 24/7 coverage of 9-8-8 calls, chats, and texts.
The NSPL contact centers are Johnson County Community Mental Health, Sedgwick County Comcare, and Kansas Suicide Prevention HQ.
In July 2022, 9-8-8 became the national three-digit dialing code for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, replacing the current phone number of 1-800-273-TALK (8255).