As the largest 911 call center in Washington, serving 38 police and fire agencies in Pierce County, South Sound 911 has seen a growing number of the nearly one million calls they receive annually involve someone who suffering from a mental or behavioral health crisis.
In an effort to better support these callers, the 911 emergency center has launched a first-of-its-kind model that will bring counselors from the states’ 988 mental health hotline to work alongside dispatchers in from its Tacoma headquarters. The collaboration aims to make it easier and faster for dispatchers to divert behavioral health calls away from first responders and toward mental health professionals.
The new program, launched in June, is one of three in the state created through a year-long pilot program known as the Mental Health Crisis Call Diversion Initiative. The effort is a partnership between the Washington Department of Health and the three providers that oversee the states’ 988 mental health hotlines.
Volunteers of America, the designated 998 provider for phone lines throughout Western Washington outside of King County, has partnered with South Sound 911 to manage the co-location facility in Tacoma. The scheme launched this summer with just one counsellor, but at full strength it will have six plus a co-ordinator to handle 988 calls. The association currently operates during peak hours from 2pm to 12am, but will be open 24/7 once fully staffed.
The need for the program arose out of the realization that many calls to 911 may contain a mental health or behavioral health component and could benefit from a behavioral health-type response rather than a “law enforcement,” said Courtney Colwell, director of VOAs 988.
The Tacoma co-location center, joining similar pilot centers in the Seattle and Spokane areas, marks an expansion for the recently launched 988 mental health hotline.
The three-digit number was expanded and implemented by the Washington Legislature in 2022. It was to replace the ten-digit suicide prevention hotline; Launched alongside a national increase in suicide rates that year, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control.
Between 7,000 and 8,600 Washingtonians called the 988 hotline each month during its first year of implementation, a November report from the Washington State Health Authority found.
Before the co-location center was launched, 988 workers and its predecessor on the suicide prevention hotline had worked alongside 911 personnel. 911 dispatchers regularly made referrals or deliveries to the mental health hotline. But being in separate spaces and operating independently of each other occasionally led to inefficiencies and had limitations, said Dianna Caber, South Sound 911 communications center manager.
In addition to other challenges, callers might feel like they’re being bounced between different agencies, possibly making their crisis worse without getting the right care, he said. A person in crisis may also not be aware of the differences between the two numbers or that 988 exists, he said, and be unsure who to call.
Many crisis callers end up getting a call for a police or fire response because they called 911, Caber said. Whereas, if they had called 988, they may have been immediately connected to a counselor or someone who could provide emotional or crisis support at that time.
With the new co-location center, Caber said they eliminate many of those concerns, making it easier and faster to support callers throughout the call. They also ensure that callers receive an appropriate response regardless of the number they dial.
Our goal was really to create this no-wrong-door approach where someone in crisis isn’t trying to decipher or learn which number is the right number to call, he said. It simply connected them to the best resources for their situation.
By being stationed at the South Sound 911 campus, Colwell said 988 crisis counselors can provide more appropriate care to those arriving in crisis, hoping to create opportunities for better outcomes while opening lines and 911 dispatchers so others can handle other emergencies. . Counselors, who vary in training from master’s-level doctors to those with bachelor’s degrees and a certified peer support credential, also can spend more time with callers than a 911 operator, he said.
Generally, a call will be transferred to a counselor if a person is in a mental health crisis or has suicidal thoughts, but is not a threat to themselves or others. Counselors can also be involved simultaneously with a dispatcher if a situation requires mental health support and first responders.
I think it’s a great program, said Gig Harbor Police Chief Kelly Busey, whose department is one of 38 agencies in the county that rely on South Sound 911.
Anecdotally, Busey said his officers respond to mental health-related calls on a daily basis, saying they have increased significantly. The cohabitation program could lead to fewer patrol responses and better outcomes for people seeking a behavioral health specialist, he said.
Early evidence suggests it is. In 100 days of work in 2023, Colwell said the co-location center ended up with an 82 percent call diversion rate, meaning a call was diverted entirely from 911 and law enforcement systems and, instead, it was managed by 988 directors.
We had many success stories from this period and continued to see good things, he said.
Conor Wilson is a member of the Murrow News, reporting for the Kitsap Sun and Gig Harbor Now, a Gig Harbor-based nonprofit newsroom, through a program run by Washington State University.
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