www . AmericanSecurityToday . com 2022 CHAMPIONS - Edition 66
Since the bill ’ s passing , states have differed in their approach to implement 988 at scale . Plac- es like Colorado , Nevada , and Washington found funding channels and began setting up suicide prevention call centers and crisis response teams imme- diately , while others have taken a slower approach to legislation and infrastructure .
Nonetheless , all states still say they have a long way to go , conducting internal studies to fully grasp what their state needs to do to fully scale their mental health crisis care continuum .
Consequently , 988 implemen- tations varied widely across the board at the outset , and that dis- parity continues today .
Beyond the initial implemen- tation challenges , there have been mental health experts who have cited concerns about mental health crises fitting into the broader emergency man- agement lifecycle . Some pub- lic safety teams are also worried about interoperability and gen- eral public awareness .
Authorities still need to fig- ure out details such as :
• What incident information should be transferred be- tween 988 and 911 ?
• How to direct community members on the right use of both phone numbers ?
• And how responders should organize efforts involving multiple emergencies or situ- ations involving both physical and mental concerns ?
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