Thursday, April 25, 2024
4/25/2024
Project Abstract Funding from the Kentucky 988 Capacity Infrastructure Project will support increased/retention of staffing to ensure the target of 90% of calls, texts and chats are answered in state, and within 20 seconds, with fewer than 5% of calls abandoned is essential in closing the gaps within Kentucky's public behavioral health safety net. An additional 40,000 callers are expected to be served over a two-year period with 20,000 served in year one. A minimum of 14 FTE will be hired into the CMHC crisis call system to respond to crisis calls from Kentucky residents. Goals of the project include increasing: 1) the number of people trained in mental health-related practices; 2) number of individual referred to mental health services; 3) number of individuals screened for mental health issues; 4) number of people receiving follow-up care after referral; 5) number of organizations who enter into formal agreement to improve mental health care; and achieving or maintaining: 1) a 90% answer rate for all calls that originate in the state; 2) a 20-second or less answer speed; 3) a 5% or lower abandonment rate; and 4) a 10% rate or lower of calls that go directly or roll over to the national back-up centers. In 2020, behavioral health needs skyrocketed as Kentucky and the rest of the world struggled with the trauma of social isolation, fear, unemployment, loss of homes and closing of schools from the COVID-19 pandemic. Coupled with racial injustice highlighted by the traumatic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Michael Brown, and countless others at the hands of police officers, crisis call centers reported they were receiving more calls, especially from people who had never reached out for mental health care in the past; that the calls were more acute in nature resulting in a significant increase in time to resolve the crisis. Overall, suicide rates in Kentucky increased about 4% from 2019 to 2020, the latest year for which data is available, however, significant increases were noted for those who are male (12%); under the age of 24 (18%) and Black (20%). Comparatively, the rate of drug overdoses jumped by 49% from 2019 to 2020 propelling Kentucky to the number two spot among states in the U.S. for increases. Preliminary data from the Kentucky Incentives for Prevention (KIP) survey conducted in the fall of 2021, found that 26% of middle schoolers and 39% of high schoolers reported poor mental health most or all the time during the pandemic. Between 20% and 40% of students who used substances before the pandemic, reported their usage increased during COVID. Similarly, since 2016, Kentucky has seen a nearly 70% increase in initiated call volume to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, highlighting the increasing mental health needs of Kentucky residents. Funding for crisis centers is limited but growing with the awareness of the need for crisis call services, and the state does not have sufficient capacity to answer anticipated call volume. Only 10 crisis centers, located within the Community Mental Health Center system, are providing 24/7 primary coverage for all 120 counties and backup coverage for 37 of those counties, leaving 83 counties without back-up coverage. Three centers are in the onboarding process and will be accredited before 988 goes live in July, covering with in-region services all but five of the 120 counties in Kentucky. Since January 2019, the state has significantly increased the average annual in-state answer rate from 48% in 2018 to 75% for the one-year period that ended November 30, 2021. That percentage is still significantly below the expected goal of 90% of calls originating in Kentucky being answered in Kentucky. Additionally, deficits exist in workforce to answer the anticipate call volume. Staffing projections call for 170 call takers and 34 supervisors in year one. Kentucky's crisis call system currently numbers about half that in workforce capacity, without considering
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).
