Yahoo Autos 988 can save lives in Delaware | Opinion
Every year, millions of mental health emergency calls are made to 911 and other crisis lines. But, unfortunately, when in-person help is needed, often, the only response available is law enforcement — not a mental health professional.
Law enforcement response to mental health crises often includes law enforcement tools like handcuffs, resulting in the criminalization of mental illness.
People in crisis face avoidable trauma and tragedy. Psychiatric Services reports that people with mental illness are booked into U.S. jails about 2 million times annually, often for just exhibiting symptoms of their health condition. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says more than 45,800 people in the U.S. died by suicide in 2020. In 2021 in Delaware, 1,165 people experienced homelessness, 447 lives were lost from drug overdose and 113 lives were lost to suicide.
This is unacceptable. A mental health crisis deserves a mental health response. Timely, appropriate response can get people on the road to recovery, divert them from unnecessary criminal justice involvement, and free up law enforcement to do the job they signed up to do.
People in crisis deserve help and hope — not handcuffs.
Bipartisan support
Two years ago, Congress passed bipartisan legislation to designate 988 as the new universal three-digit number for mental health, substance use and suicidal crises.
Available nationwide by July 2022, 988 by phone, text or chat, will provide response from well-trained personnel who can de-escalate situations, provide mental health intervention and connect people to appropriate community resources.
But Delaware isn’t ready yet. In most Delaware communities, the complete 988 system is unavailable. For effective 988 response by July 2022, Delaware needs to work quickly to ensure there are effective 24/7 crisis call centers, highly skilled mobile crisis teams and well-managed crisis stabilization systems in all three counties.
When a Delawarean dials 988, they should receive a response — 24/7 — by local, Delaware crisis call center professionals with experience responding to a range of mental health, substance use and suicidal crises.
