From contact to continuity: strengthening 988 follow-up care to reduce repeat crisis contacts in east tennessee - contact care line proposes from contact to continuity, a three-year project to…

The Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded Contact Care Line $239,003 through the 988 and Behavioral Health Crisis Services Programs (CFDA 93.00R) on September 30, 2026.

Contact Care Line will strengthen its Connections Follow-Up Program to reduce repeat crisis contacts among individuals served through the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in its 15-county East Tennessee service area. The three-year project, running through September 29, 2029, expands organizational capacity to provide timely, coordinated post-crisis support; reinforce safety planning; strengthen continuity of care; and improve connections to behavioral health treatment and community resources. Contact Care Line is the designated 988 voice provider for Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Jefferson, Knox, Loudon, Monroe, Morgan, Roane, Scott, Sevier, and Union Counties, and also provides Tennessee's statewide 988 chat and text services, national backup 988 chat and text services, and Spanish-language 988 voice services.

Funding supports two full-time Connections Counselors, a half-time Connections Quality & Resource Coordinator, project leadership, data administration, clinical supervision, and staff training. Place of performance is Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

From contact to continuity: strengthening 988 follow-up care to reduce repeat crisis contacts in east tennessee - contact care line proposes from contact to continuity, a three-year project to strengthen its connections follow-up program, with a primary focus on individuals served through the 988 suicide & crisis lifeline in its 15-county east tennessee service area. Building on an established follow-up program, the project will expand organizational capacity to provide timely, coordinated support after a behavioral health crisis, reinforce safety planning, strengthen continuity of care, and improve connections to behavioral health treatment and community resources. Contact care line is the designated 988 voice provider for anderson, blount, campbell, claiborne, cocke, grainger, jefferson, knox, loudon, monroe, morgan, roane, scott, sevier, and union counties. The organization also provides tennessee's statewide 988 chat and text services, national backup 988 chat and text services, and spanish-language 988 voice services. These programs operate through one integrated connections follow-up program, allowing contact care line to apply the experience, infrastructure, and lessons learned across multiple crisis service lines while directing this investment toward strengthening services for its east tennessee population of focus. During quarter 2 (april through june 2026), contact care line offered follow-up services to 5,157 individuals across its connections program. Of those, 2,532 accepted continued support. Staff completed 8,411 follow-up attempts, resulting in 2,628 successful follow-up conversations. These data demonstrate an established, high-volume follow-up program with the operational experience and infrastructure needed to successfully expand services. Grant funding will support two full-time connections counselors, a half-time connections quality & resource coordinator, project leadership, data administration, clinical supervision, staff training, and enhancements to the icarol platform to strengthen documentation, participant outcome measurement, and program evaluation. Together, these investments will increase staffing capacity, improve individualized resource coordination, strengthen quality improvement efforts, enhance participant engagement, and support continuous refinement of follow-up services. The project will directly support follow-up services for approximately 1,800 consenting individuals annually within the 15-county east tennessee service area, delivered within an integrated connections program that serves more than 10,000 consenting individuals annually across all service lines. Follow-up will be initiated within 24 hours of referral and maintained for a minimum of 90 days, with structured suicide and overdose risk assessment at each successful contact. Through strengthened staffing, data-informed decision-making, and coordinated community connections, from contact to continuity will help ensure individuals remain engaged with support beyond their initial 988 interaction and are better connected to the services they need for ongoing recovery.