988 Follow-Up Calls Vital but Untracked: Mental Health Expert
A cornerstone of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline system, follow-up calls remain "largely unfunded, unmeasured, and underreported," wrote John Draper, Behavioral Health Link's president of research, development and government solutions, in a blog post this week. Reams of studies…
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have found that structured and unstructured follow-up reduces suicides and leads to greater engagement in care, Draper noted. He said 988 administrator Vibrant Emotional Health's 2023 requirement that 988 centers do follow-ups within 24 hours was made with the assumption that centers would have the resources to do such outreach. But there's no systematic way of knowing if states understand that obligation and are funding it, Draper said. States and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration should create clear guidelines for 988 centers to collect and report follow-up data, he argued, and SAMHSA 988 grants to states should require that they guarantee that 988 centers get funds to provide and report on follow-up services.