California finds $20M to help pay for new crisis hotline

Abstract

After weeks in which funding to make the hotline work in California seemed uncertain, the state Department of Health Care Services announced Sept. 2 that it would spend $20 million to help support the 988 network — billed as a “robust statewide call center” — designed to be an alternative to 911 calls, KRON 4 reported Sept. 6. The money “is a first step towards creating an easier to access system for mental health care. But it's just a first step,” Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said in a statement. The Steinberg Institute he founded had advocated for even more money. “We're going to continue to fight for sustained funding for a mental health crisis response system that includes mobile crisis teams and appropriate follow‐up care,” he said. “Our jails and emergency rooms can no longer be our primary treatment for people in crisis.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statement declaring that the money would help ensure “call centers have capacity and are equipped to help all callers so we can meet Californians where they are and expand resources and support during these difficult times.”