Monday, May 6, 2024
5/6/2024
Georgia’s 988 Community Expansion Project will use grant funds to maintain and enhance staffing for the Georgia Crisis and Access Line, mobile crisis teams, Peer Warmlines, and Care Coordinators follow-up work as well as supporting mass marketing efforts. Prior grant funding allowed Georgia to expand call center staffing by 16 positions which led to a significant decrease in average speed to answer and abandonment rates. Ongoing funding will be needed to maintain those positions and funding for 16 new call center staff is needed to continue to provide access to help as call volume increases. Georgia will begin statewide mass marketing of 988 this year and plans to use a portion of this grant funding to support the mass marketing campaign. Projections of the impact of mass marketing on call volume suggest the potential to double current call volume. Call volume from July 16, 2022, to June 1, 2023, totaled 255,953 calls. If volume were to double with mass marketing of 988, Georgia could receive over 500,000 calls during the same time period next year. The downstream impact of increased call volume means that additional people will need support through the Peer Warmlines and mobile crisis services. Georgia will use the funding to increase positions at the Peer Warmlines by contracting with the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network and the Georgia Council on Recovery for 8 additional certified peer specialists to staff the Peer2Peer and CARES Warmlines. Further, Georgia will use the funding to enhance Certified Peer Specialist coverage for mobile crisis services by contracting with Behavioral Health Link and Benchmark Human Services to hire 14 new certified peer specialists. DBHDD recognizes the need to enhance internal capacity to manage the 988 rollout and the services identified in this grant. Prior grants have allowed DBHDD to hire a Project Analyst to manage data and a 988 Community Liaison to enhance community outreach. Funding will be used to sustain these positions. Additional staffing positions, to include a Project Director and Project Evaluator, will be funded with this grant to enhance oversight of grant activities, ongoing 988 rollout, and Georgia’s overall crisis system. The Project Director and Project Evaluator will ensure Georgia is meeting metrics set forth in this grant as well as identify quality improvement efforts. Further, these positions will develop and monitor a return-on-investment plan as it relates to services funded through this grant as well as the other portions of Georgia’s crisis system. Project Goals: 1. Maintain current capacity to answer 988 calls with an average speed to answer of 30 seconds or less, an abandonment rate of 5% of less, and 90% of calls originating in Georgia with increased volume expected to result from 988 mass marketing. 2. Begin Georgia’s statewide mass marketing campaign to educate the general public about 988 and continue community outreach to groups at highest risk of suicide and those who have been historically underserved. 3. Enhance Peer Support staffing on Georgia’s Peer Warmlines and mobile crisis teams to address the downstream impact of increased call volume in the crisis system. 4. Maintain current capacity for post-crisis follow-up for calls resolved by the Georgia Crisis and Access Line, callers who are transferred to 911 for active rescue, and monitor outcomes of follow-up for mobile crisis teams and community crisis centers. 5. Develop and monitor a return-on-investment study related to services funded through this grant as well as the overall crisis continuum. Federal funding request for this application: $ 4,988,884.00
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).
