>>In the year since 988 went live, here’s what a Springfield mental health provider has seen

Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or by dialing 988. Burrell Behavioral Health’s 24-hour crisis line is available at 1-800-494-7355.

It’s been a little over a year since the national transition to 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. In that time, Burrell Behavioral Health has fielded 5,079 988 calls from the 17 counties it covers.

Natasha Corkins is the director of crisis services for Burrell’s southwest region, which includes Greene County. She’s seen an increased awareness not just of the lifeline, but of the importance of mental health.

“Absolutely (988) has lead to more discussions around mental wellness and getting connected to services for people who are needing that intervention. I think awareness of 988 in general has just kind of brought to light the crisis continuum and being aware of having someone to talk to, someone to respond, somewhere to go,” Corkins said. “The overall goal is to make sure that people in crisis are able to get those services anywhere, anytime.”

Since the 988 rollout, Burrell has also given informational presentations to over 500 individuals. The presentations involve a brief history of 988 and how it came to be, what it is, the goals as well as what happens when 988 is called and a map of the coverage area.

“Overall, just positive feedback that we’ve been getting. Some people the after presentation say, ‘I’m using this immediately with the people I work with,'” Corkins said.

Shalaine Periman, director of crisis services for Burrell’s parent company Brightli, has seen firsthand how important those presentations are.

“Out of the folks in the training, none of them had ever heard of 988,” Shalaine Perriman said. “To be able not only to tell community members but then individuals who volunteer with the agency who can then pass it on, you can start feeling the trickle (down) effect that it can have.”

Looking forward, Burrell is working to ensure that everyone knows about 988 and has access to it. The organization has worked together with area schools to put flyers about 988 in multiple places in school buildings for the upcoming school year.

“It’ll be interesting to see if our age group (using 988) changes, because we also track that,” Periman said. “Eighteen to 40 is still our higher age group,” Periman said. “It will be interesting to see if those efforts increase the calls in counties that still have very few calls.”

Currently, calling 988 will route you to a crisis center depending on the area code of the phone you’re calling from, and not necessarily what is closest to you. However, Periman hopes that they will be able to get geolocation in place soon. With geolocation, Periman said, a call to the lifeline will go to the closest center to the caller’s physical location, which will know what resources are available there. Since people often keep their phone numbers even after moving or multiple crisis centers serve the same area code, geolocation can help the caller find local resources quicker.

In the last year Burrell was able to expand their behavioral health crisis line into a crisis and community resources line, with $100,000 of American Rescue Plan Act funding. In the same center that answers 988 calls, callers can receive guidance and connection to resources like housing and utility assistance, food insecurity, veterans’ assistance, parenting help, senior programs, pregnancy resources, legal aid, transportation, and more.

The crisis and community resources line is available at 1-800-494-7355.

“Whenever somebody does call in, and say they need diapers, we have this wonderful dashboard of information we can refer to to get that person pointed in the right direction,” Corkins said. “So if people are calling in for one thing, maybe they’re not getting a basic need met, we can get that resource to them and then maybe help with safety planning or what if this crisis happens again in the future, just kind of lay some groundwork.”

Susan Szuch is the health and public policy reporter for the Springfield News-Leader. Follow her on Twitter @szuchsm. Story idea? Email her at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Burrell sees increased awareness of 988, mental health in last year