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Q&A
Council Member Lee questions DOHMH on 988 crisis hotline program budget and effectiveness
0:37:25
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3 min
Council Member Linda Lee engages in a Q&A session with DOHMH representatives about the 988 mental health crisis hotline program. The discussion covers the program's budget, response rates, awareness issues, and technical challenges.
- The FY '26 budget for the 988 program is $21,800,000
- Current call response rate is about 90% within 30 seconds
- Geo-tagging issue for out-of-state area codes has been resolved
- Barriers to program effectiveness include lack of awareness and habit of calling 911
Linda Lee
0:37:25
So really quickly going into September a little bit because the fiscal budget for the program right now is slated for $21,800,000 and how will the FY '26 budget support improvements in response rates, cultural competency training for operators, additional resources for community behavioral health programs partnered with nine eighty eight, especially given that the current 88% response rate is below the national average.
0:37:52
And I say that with the caveat that I know that when I spoke to the state folks, they were going to invest a lot of money and dollars into marketing nine eighty eight, although I think a lot of folks still are not aware that nine eighty eight exists, and so just wanting to get your thoughts on on that budget.
0:38:08
Cause that is like the first line of defense I think for a lot of these calls that we see.
Michelle Morse
0:38:12
Absolutely September is a central part of our mental health programming in New York City.
0:38:20
You're right the budget for FY '26 is $21,800,000.
0:38:24
The current relationship that we have with Vibrant, which is the contractor who runs the nine eighty eight program has allowed for us to continue with this year a volume of about 335,000 calls, chats and texts, which is similar to what it was last year.
0:38:41
So we know that this is a service that New Yorkers are using with that volume of calls, but we completely agree with you that we could certainly make it even more visible and make sure even more New Yorkers are aware of it and are aware of the fact that again it's twenty fourseven, seven days a week, three sixty five days a year.
0:39:00
Over recent months the call response rate is about 90% of calls are responded to within thirty seconds, which is a great improvement from what it was previously.
0:39:11
And we do expect to see a somewhat similar volume of calls next year.
0:39:15
However, we have been able to work very closely with Vibrant to make sure that they have the support they need and that we have the data that we need to make sure that the program is rising to the needs of New Yorkers.
Linda Lee
0:39:29
Yeah, and then was the geo tagging issue resolved?
0:39:32
I forget because I know that was a big problem in the beginning.
Michelle Morse
0:39:34
Can you say that one more time?
Linda Lee
0:39:35
The geo area code locator because I know that for example a lot of folks in New York come from all different places, so if I have an area code for Texas let's just say, it's gonna tag me as being in Texas not New York City.
0:39:47
So that was a huge issue in the beginning.
Michelle Morse
0:39:49
That has been resolved.
0:39:50
The calls are routed to the closest cell phone tower.
Linda Lee
0:39:54
Okay perfect, perfect.
0:39:56
And also in terms of the reasons for why it's below the national average, do you know what it is?
0:40:02
Is it just simply people not knowing about it?
0:40:04
Is it that they're still just you know conditioned or sort of thinking of 911 versus 988 or do you have any data around that?
Michelle Morse
0:40:13
Thank you for that question.
0:40:15
I'm gonna pass this one actually over to Doctor.
0:40:17
Wright to share more.
Jean Wright
0:40:22
Thank you Commissioner.
0:40:24
And so it's been my experience that it is a combination of what you said and so it's a combination of people not knowing that it exists, but think about how long it took for folks to really get used to 911 for some decades, and so they're still used to calling that number.
0:40:39
And so what we'd like to have is a sort of a no wrong door, so to speak, so that when people call we can route them to the service that they need.
0:40:47
So I think it's a combination of what you said.
Linda Lee
0:40:49
Okay.
0:40:51
So hopefully those barriers we'll continue to work on so that people actually get to the place they need to get to more quickly.