EDITORIAL: 988 already proves its worth
Aug. 17—An investigation by the Missouri Independent (included in these pages) found several things worth noting about the country's new 988 mental health hotline that recently began operation.
One is the need. Many Missouri mental health providers have been swamped since it launched. According to the Independent, during its first year Missouri will receive more than a quarter-million 988 calls.
"At Burrell Behavioral Health, which covers a 17-county region across central and Southwest Missouri, (Shalaine) Periman expected to see a 30% increase in calls — but instead in the 988 hotline's first week that reached 50%."
"At Ozark Center, based in Joplin, increases on any given day have ranged from 30% to 50%, said Debbie Fitzgerald, the director of crisis services at the center, which is an affiliate of Freeman Health System."
As Periman also told the Independent, this is evidence that the mental health hotline was "long overdue."
The second revelation: Calls are routed not to the nearest mental care provider or, if needed, the nearest emergency responder but to the provider in the area code of the phone. So a person who bought a cellphone in Chicago, with a 312 area code, for example, but now lives in California would have that call routed to a mental health provider in Chicago.
This could be a serious problem and one we urge lawmakers and regulators to correct.
Geolocation services would be "tremendously helpful," but the Missouri Independent reported that the change would have to come from the federal level, and the Federal Communications Commission, the government agency that would determine if geolocation services would be added, did not respond to their request for comment last week.
"It would be in the best interest of the individual calling," Michelle Horvath, Compass Health Network's director of access and urgent care services in Missouri, said of geolocation services being added, "as well as just making sure on a follow-up standpoint for the call taker ... to know where that person is going to be best served."
The new 988 system is already providing evidence of the ongoing mental health crisis in the country, and we are optimistic that the kinks can be worked out quickly.
