Study: U.S. has fewer mental health crisis services since 988 launch

While calls to the national 988 suicide prevention hotline have continued to increase since its launch in 2022, fewer psychiatric facilities are offering emergency psychiatric walk-in services, mobile crisis response units, and suicide prevention services, according to a study published this week (Source: “Since 988 launch, mental health crisis services have faltered,” Stat News, Jan. 29).
 
The Rand study, which was published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, followed changes in crisis services offered by psychiatric facilities, using Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration data from between November 2021 and June 2023. Out of more than 15,600 facilities, the proportion offering emergency psychiatric walk-in services dropped from 32% to 29% during that period. That was the largest decrease among the tracked services, though the researchers found significant variation in availability from state to state both before and after 988 launched. 
 
Publicly funded facilities and those that accepted Medicaid or private insurance were all more likely to offer crisis services compared with their counterparts. In particular, certified community behavioral health clinics (CCBHCs), which receive Medicaid funding and federal grants, are required to provide crisis services. There are only around 500 CCBHCs across the country, but study author and RAND policy researcher Jonathan Cantor saw them as a “bright spot” that could serve as a model for other types of providers in the future.