FY 2023 cooperative agreements for state and territories to improve local 988 capacity - kansas department for aging and disability services (kdads) currently partners with three national suicide…

FY 2023 cooperative agreements for state and territories to improve local 988 capacity - kansas department for aging and disability services (kdads) currently partners with three national suicide prevention lifeline (nspl) contact centers for 24/7 coverage specific to 988 calls, chats, and texts. Reports have shown an increase in 988 services since the implementation date of july 16TH, 2022. In collaboration with kdads, the kansas crisis call centers will have measurable improvements to the in-state answering rate for calls, texts, and chats as well as workforce development. The nspl contact centers in kansas are johnson county community mental health (jccmh), sedgwick county (in which comcare responds to nspl calls), and kansas suicide prevention HQ (ksphq). Healthsource integrated services (his) is currently a statewide back-up contact center and wyandot behavioral health network INC. Is in the process of gaining certification. Currently, the average in-state call answer rate is above the targeted rate of 90%. However, the chat and text in-state answer rate has stayed at 60% for april and may 2023. Challenges to increasing chat and text answer rates are primarily related to staffing and technology. To increase in-state chat and text answer rate, comcare, jccmh and ksphq will need to increase the number of volunteers, staff counselors, and peers available. As volume and staffing increases, so too does the need for increased supervision of volunteer, staff counselors, and peers for the purposes of support and quality assurance.