The New York State (NYS) Office of Mental Health (OMH) is committed to ensuring that New Yorkers experiencing a behavioral health crisis have equitable access to inclusive, high quality 988 services from NYS Crisis Contact Centers (Centers) that are familiar with and dedicated to their community. This will be done by expanding a diverse workforce, 988 Centers capacity, linkages to community supports and interventions, and comprehensive community education and marketing throughout NYS.
This project will serve all individuals whose calls, chats, or texts originate from NYS that are experiencing a behavioral health crisis and contact 988. NYS estimates that contacts made to 988 will continue to expand by another 30% in the second year of operation with projections of up to 50% annually thereafter. Because this project will touch all facets of NY's 988 operations, including other components of the crisis response system, we estimate that between 2-4 million people will be served throughout the duration of this project.
NYS has developed seven goals for this initiative. These goals are related to access, capacity, sustainable funding, consistent standards for follow-up, data and quality assurance, stakeholder involvement for the developing comprehensive crisis response system and community linkages, and a thorough communication strategy at the core of planning. To achieve these goals, NYS has outlined 18 objectives which set priorities and targets for progress and accountability. The themes depicted in the objectives include 24/7 in-state primary and back-up coverage for call/chat/text, target percent and answer rates, standardized data collection and quality assurance practices, follow-up and linkage procedures, targets for expanded connectivity between 988 other crisis services, and a comprehensive communication strategy. The intention of all goals and objectives is to focus on three specific areas:
1. Expansion of 988 Centers' diverse workforce to respond, intervene, and provide follow-up to all individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis.
2. Engagement of 988 Centers and other components of the comprehensive crisis response system.
3. Education of 988 to all communities in NYS, especially high-risk populations and underserved communities, through a comprehensive community education and marketing strategy.
When NYS successfully achieves the goals and objectives outlined in this project, we expect that all calls, chats, and texts originating in NY will route to a NY 988 Center (primarily and secondarily), in-state response rates to 988 contacts will reach and sustain at 90% and NY's capacity to respond to the unique needs to diverse communities of New Yorkers experiencing behavioral health crises who contact 988 will increase. For an in-depth review all goals and objectives, please Section B.
