CN 988 Tribal Response - The Cherokee Nation Behavioral Health (CNBH) 988 Tribal Response project will strengthen Cherokee Nation's (CN) capacity to respond to, monitor, and grow awareness and utilization of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline across the Cherokee Nation Reservation, a 6,950-square-mile, 14-county jurisdiction in northeastern Oklahoma with a population of 521,336, about half of whom live in areas the Census classifies as rural. CNBH currently fields 988 contacts through its existing behavioral health workforce, which screens, refers, and links callers to services, but lacks dedicated peer capacity to provide warm transitions and follow-up, a routine system for turning contact and referral data into planning insight, and a coordinated communication strategy to reach rural and lower-broadband communities before a crisis becomes urgent. Continuing and building on CN's work under the 988 Tribal Response cooperative agreement since 2023, this project adds a Peer Recovery Support Specialist and a Mental Health Consultant to CNBH's crisis response, builds a functioning data-tracking and reconciliation system, and launches a coordinated, multi-tiered communication strategy. The primary population of focus is AI/AN individuals of all ages whose 988 contacts originate in Tribal communities or are initiated by AI/AN; the secondary population, targeted for 988 awareness and education, is all citizens within the entire catchment area. There are 144,855 CN citizens residing within the reservation, 27.8% of the catchment area's total population. In 2023, the age-adjusted suicide rate among non-Hispanic AI/AN people was 69% higher than the overall U.S. rate, and Oklahoma's own suicide rate has grown faster than the national rate for close to two decades, with rates highest among AI/AN and white Oklahomans and in rural areas. CN accounted for 1,545 of the 4,382 AI/AN-specific 988 Lifeline contacts recorded across Oklahoma tribes between April 2025 and March 2026, 35% of the total and more than double the next-highest tribe. At least half of CN’s residents live in rural communities facing well-documented suicide risk factors- social isolation, limited access to behavioral health care, longer travel distances, and higher rates of firearm ownership- and 13.8% of catchment-area households lack a broadband subscription, limiting awareness of 988 before a crisis makes it urgent. To strengthen CN's capacity to respond to 988 contacts (Goal 1), CNBH will hire and onboard a Project Director, Mental Health Consultant, Family Care Manager, and Peer Recovery Support Specialist by 1/31/2027, update its written agreement with Solari by 3/31/2027, and deliver crisis-response professional development to 75 CN employees in Year 1 and 200 in each of Years 2 and 3, with at least 80% of citizens referred through 988 receiving a warm hand-off and documented follow-up annually. To build CN's capacity to monitor and utilize 988 data (Goal 2), the project will establish a written local evaluation plan and a functioning data-tracking system by 9/29/2027, and the Project Evaluator will produce quarterly reconciliation reports comparing CN’s share of tribal-affiliated 988 contacts against services actually delivered. To grow awareness and utilization of 988 among CN citizens (Goal 3), CN will develop and implement a multi-tiered communication strategy aligned with SAMHSA's 988 partner toolkit, conduct at least six rural community-based awareness events in Year 1 (scaling to 12 in Years 2 and 3), sustain the Mental Health Awareness Day campaign, and by 9/29/2029 will collaboratively develop and disseminate a Tribal Crisis Response Best Practices Toolkit with the OK Tribal 988 Workgroup. These goals align with SAMHSA's strategic priorities and will be monitored through a structured CQI process, quarterly SPARS reporting, and annual Programmatic Progress Reports.
