Over the next three days, Charleston summit attendees will learn from CIT-certified law enforcement officers and behavioral health experts about improving communication methods, identifying mental health resources for people in crisis and keeping officers and communities safe.
This week, Charleston-based nonprofit First Choice Services is hosting a summit to discuss crisis care and mental health in West Virginia.
First Choice Services runs several helplines, including the 988 suicide and crisis line, the tobacco cessation hotline and 1-800-Gambler.
The nonprofit kicked off its second annual West Virginia 988 and Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Summit in Charleston on Monday.
Sheila Moran is the Director of Marketing and Communications for First Choice Services.
“This is the West Virginia Crisis Intervention Team conference,” Moran said, “and it will bring together over 200 people from across the state, including emergency responders, law enforcement, behavioral health, decision makers and policy makers, to learn more about the CIT program and how we can expand it across the state.”
Participants will include federal, state and local officials, law enforcement, firefighters, emergency medical service providers, advocates, mental health providers, substance use disorder experts, criminal justice professionals and people with lived experience of substance use, legal and mental health issues.
Nationwide, at least 20 percent of calls to police are about substance use or mental health crises, and 65 percent of prison inmates report mental health concerns, according to the American Psychological Association.
The CIT program helps officers respond with a community-based approach to improve the outcome of these incidents. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, a community-based approach creates connections between law enforcement, mental health providers, hospital emergency services, and individuals with mental illness and their families.
Over the next three days, Charleston summit attendees will learn from CIT-certified law enforcement officers and behavioral health experts about improving communication methods, identifying mental health resources for people in crisis and keeping officers and communities safe.
Moran said the West Virginia Crisis Intervention Team/988 Summit is a joint conference because Lifeline is such an important tool in West Virginia’s mental health response.
“988 is a lifeline for anyone in crisis or feeling suicidal,” Moran said. “We’re a 24-hour resource, not just for people in crisis, but for emergency responders, police, anyone who needs a conversation.”
The summit’s keynote speaker was U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia, William S. Thompson, who touted the 988 Suicide and Crisis Hotline as a step forward in combating the mental health crisis.
“The fact that we’re coming together for a training like this, the 988 number is kind of a resource that’s underutilized in this state and needs to be utilized more,” Thompson said, “but the fact that someone can just dial three numbers and actually connect with crisis assistance is a wonderful thing.”
Moran said First Choice Services answered calls for the National Suicide Hotline for several years prior to the 988 program.
“When 988 came about, we were able to get funding for these things,” Moran said, “and it’s really made a difference. Now we have about 100 people in our office who work on the 988 program or the back-up program for West Virginia. We have over 200 back-up centers across the country that answer those lines, so when you call, you don’t get an answering machine or a busy line.”
Since the 988 program was implemented in West Virginia in 2022, the number of calls has more than doubled, Moran said.
“Sometimes people hear that and think it’s bad news,” Moran said, “but it’s a good thing because it means people are reaching out for help. There are a lot of reasons for that, including, of course, the fact that 988 is an easy phone number to remember.”
The summit will not only address how emergency personnel react physically in a crisis situation, but also mentally by addressing the mental health crisis among emergency personnel.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, law enforcement and emergency responders experience significantly higher levels of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as a higher risk of suicide.
Summit attendees will hear about evidence-based strategies to reduce these risks.
Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting with support from Marshall Health.
