FORT WORTH, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) – Nearly three months after a nationwide transition on how best to provide help to people experiencing a mental health crisis, calls to one of the 988 centers in Fort Worth are steadily increasing and are expected to grow with greater public awareness of the hotline.
One of four major call centers in Texas handling 988 calls, a crisis and suicide lifeline, the center in Fort Worth is looking to nearly double its staff of 42.
Training is ongoing for communication staff in cities who handle 911 calls, so they know when to switch to the new number, and also for mobile teams who can go out in person to people who need to see someone face-to-face. expensive.
A major marketing push has yet to begin following the lifeline’s public launch in July, but is expected early next year along with heightened awareness from law enforcement interested in avoiding unnecessary police interaction on the streets. calls.
“A lot of times, most of those people don’t really want services,” said Mark Ware, senior director of crisis services for My Health My Resources Tarrant County, which operates the Fort Worth call center. “They really want that emotional support, someone who will listen to them.”
However, they can direct them to services if they wish, in 71 counties where the calls reach Fort Worth. Trained crisis interventionists can also call back to check on people, or just listen as long as someone needs, offering them time and expertise that simply wouldn’t be available if the caller had called 911.
The transition to 988 was easy, Ware said, as MHMR had been handling Lifeline calls on a 10-digit number for about five years, and still does when someone calls for service referrals.
However, hiring may be the biggest hurdle to overcome as the service expands, Ware said. In regular calls with the managers of the other call centers, the shortage of staff is noticeable. Trust that weekly hiring events will fill enough positions to handle any number of calls.
At this time, if no one is available to answer a call, it is transferred to a national center where the caller can still speak to someone. The intent is for the state to provide a backup call center for calls originating in Texas to stay here, where local call takers are familiar with available resources.
Carol Rodríguez has been taking calls at the center for two years. The time she can take to ask questions is often invaluable in determining what someone needs. And sometimes all they needed was her voice on the phone.
“Sometimes they just need to talk about things,” he said. “Sometimes after talking to someone for about 40 minutes, they say it’s okay, now I feel better.”
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