Kansas Governor Laura Kelly says the state will receive a federal grant that will help build local capacity for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and related crisis services.
The grant of over $5.4 million is from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. It will be provided to the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services.
Governor Kelly said the funds are critical to ensure that Kansas has the staff and resources to address the mental health crisis in the state. The funding will give Kansas the ability to recruit, hire and train additional staff to make sure state contact centers can collect and report monthly data on contacts that result in emergency rescue, suicide attempts in progress, and mobile crisis outreach referrals.
A federal program will provide almost $1.9 million in the first year and nearly $1.8 million in each of the next two years to improve the response to 988 contacts – calls, chats and texts – originating in Kansas. The program has a goal of increasing workforce support for the growing 988 demand and improving the public communication of 988 services.
In July of 2022, 988 became the national three-digit dialing code for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
