988 suicide hotline announces pivot to full mental health crisis resource

988 Logo // Provided by 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

Seven guest speakers, including Missouri’s former Secretary of State Jason Kander, braved the winter weather late Wednesday morning, Jan. 10. Kander hosted and moderated Making Mental Health Matter: A 988 Symposium, along with five mental health professionals and advocates.

After a brief intro by Mayor Quinton Lucas, the mic was handed over to moderator of the event, Jason Kander. Kander has been a long-term advocate on the topic, and touched very briefly on his own struggles with mental health.

988 Symposium at Barkley // Photo provided by Barkley

Dr Kristin Feeback, CEO of CommCare and the 988 Crisis Lifeline, was the first to speak. She touched on important milestones made in 2023, including an improved answer rate of 94% in Missouri, and 92% in Kansas. This puts both Kansas and Missouri within the top five states in terms of answer rate success.

Sgt. Ashley McCunnif, Crisis Intervention Team Supervisor of the KCPD, spoke on how the 988 program is working with KCPD in training officers how to respond to calls of this nature. The KCPD now requires training specific to mental health response within the academy.

McCunnif touched on how any 911 calls of this nature can now be directly transferred to the 988 lifeline. As long as there is no immediate threat of danger, officers are not required to respond to calls. However, the 988 lifeline is open to officers as well, should coaching be needed by an officer on how to respond to a call.

Shannon Moss, Clinical Director of ReDiscover, spoke on some very important attributes of the 988 Lifeline that make it unique. 988 will dispatch a mental health professional to you, should the line deem it necessary to get someone to you in person. They also will conduct follow-up calls to anyone that calls their line and may need additional help or resources. There is access to crisis stabilization units, should more in-person intervention be deemed necessary.

Ryan Maid, Senior Director of Behavioral Science for the Kansas City Royals, touched on what The Royal’s are doing to reduce the stigma associated with mental health. Working with BlueKC, The Royal’s sponsor “Shut Out the Stigma,” an organization that encourages those in need to seek help.

The last to speak was Emily Snow, Senior Administrative Director of Behavioral Health for Children’s Mercy. Children’s Mercy has a lot planned in the coming years to improve mental health care for children and adolescents. However, they recently opened a short term clinic to help teenagers suffering from depression and anxiety. According to Snow, 50% of all teenagers will suffer from anxiety or depression.

Closing remarks were given by Feeback and Snow. They stressed that the line is more than just a suicide line, and encourages people to call for whatever emotional crisis they may be struggling with. Snow wanted to make sure that people know that it is much more than talk therapy on the phone. They will connect you to resources to help you continue to heal and move forward. The line is open 24/7, 365 days of the year, including holidays. Ultimately, their goal is to ensure that people have quick and easy access to help when they need it most.

Much more information on the service, including updates and new accessibility options, are available through the official site.