My friend and colleague Sebrina Barrett, Director of ACL, and I had an opportunity to talk with Spectrum News yesterday about the early implementation of 988.Consistently, MHANYS messaging has been very hopeful and supportive of the new 988 roll out. Where we think it will be even more effective is when the Crisis Stabilization Centers (think Urgent Care for Mental Health and Addiction Disorders) are up and running so that the need for law enforcement engagement or emergency room hospitalizations will be more limited, and people will able to recover from a crisis with immediate engagement from behavioral health professionals.
As we have said time and time again, the issue at the end of the day is still making sure that the services and workforce are there post crisis. If services are not funded and recovery driven with a well-compensated workforce, then the cycle of 988 calls and a short term response will sadly be repeated.
