A memorandum of understanding with Centre County 9-1-1 will formalize Centre Helps’ role in providing over-the-phone counseling to local callers for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which launched nationwide last year.
The Centre County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday voted unanimously to add the MOU to the consent agenda for approval at its Aug. 15 meeting.
988 was designated by Congress in 2020 as an easy-to-remember nationwide mental health crisis helpline and went into effect in July 2022. It replaced the old 10-digit National Suicide Prevention Hotline, for which the State College-based nonprofit Centre Helps had provided local counselors since 2018.
Because Centre Helps is the designated 988 call center in Centre County, the 988 organization overseen by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and administrator Vibrant Emotional Health requested that it have an MOU with Centre County 9-1-1.
Denise McCann, executive director of Centre Helps, said that the MOU was more of a formality and that nothing will change with what they are already doing.
“We just kind of put that into writing how we already work together,” she said. “I think the bottomline is that it is imperative that individuals in crisis receive responses that are appropriate to the type of crisis that they are experiencing.”
The document defines the non-threatening circumstances in which Centre County 9-1-1 dispatchers can transfer a call to Centre Helps when the callers ask to be referred to a crisis line and there are no obvious threats that would require law enforcement intervention. It also addresses how 9-1-1 will deal with “wireless exigent” requests — in which a 9-1-1 staffer provides cell phone location info when there is an immediate safety concern — from Centre Helps.
There is no cost to the county and unless the MOU is terminated by a 60-day notice of a mutual written agreement of the parties, it will not expire.
“[The MOU] is pretty much typical of what we do everyday,” Norm Spackman, county director of emergency communications, said.
Spackman noted that9-1-1 gets few direct mental health crisis calls because of the strong local support network including Centre Helps and other organizations. Most call counselors directly through 988 or other means.
Interaction between Centre Helps and 9-1-1 most often occurs when Centre Helps gets a call where there is imminent risk and needs to work with emergency communications.
“Fortunately, we are able to de-escalate 96% of imminent risk calls and put a safety plan in place,” McCann said. “For the calls that we cannot de-escalate, we engage 9-1-1.”
Since 988 launched last year, calls in Centre County have tripled and are expected to grow, McCann said. She believes that the calls have increased because people are becoming more aware of the hotline.
“There is more of a push to publicize the number and to make sure people know it’s there and how to get that help when they need it,” she said.
Centre Helps’ mission is to empower anyone in crisis or need. Its staff and volunteers utilize comprehensive training to provide 24/7 emotional support and connections to resources. For information about its services, visit centrehelps.org.
