Project Grant H79FG001525

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration awarded Help Center, Inc. $250,000 on September 30, 2026, under the 988 and Behavioral Health Crisis Services Programs (CFDA 93.00R) to implement the Crisis Center Follow-Up Improvement Project.

Help Center, Inc. will deliver telephonic crisis follow-up services across a 13-county, 28,729-square-mile region of Southwest Montana (population 244,842), building on three years of prior SAMHSA-funded implementation. The project strengthens continuity of care following behavioral health crises by enhancing a community-integrated crisis follow-up framework, expanding local partnerships, standardizing evidence-informed follow-up practices, and supporting more consistent follow-up across rural and frontier communities. Help Center provides direct services within its 13-county region to individuals referred through 988, hospitals, emergency departments, inpatient psychiatric units, mobile crisis teams, law enforcement, EMS, and public safety answering points. Priority populations include individuals at high risk for suicide or repeated crisis utilization, those transitioning from higher levels of care, those referred through emergency response contact, and residents of rural and tribal communities with limited behavioral health infrastructure.

Help Center also partners with Voices of Hope, Montana's designated 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline provider, to strengthen crisis follow-up across 36 additional counties (population 515,012). The community-integrated crisis follow-up framework combines standardized, evidence-informed follow-up practices with locally delivered implementation through trusted community organizations, including a 24-hour, 90-day minimum follow-up protocol.

Performance occurs in Bozeman, Montana. The period of performance runs from September 30, 2026, through September 29, 2029.