Johnson County Mental Health Center employees began answering all local calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on August 27. If anyone in Johnson County calls the national hotline, they will now speak directly with a local qualified mental health professional instead of being routed to a call center elsewhere in Kansas or in another state.

“This is an example of how we are using data to make better decisions for our community” said Johnson County Mental Health Center Director of Emergency Services Rob MacDougall. “We looked at the numbers for the national hotline and knew that we had the capacity to pick up the calls coming from Johnson County. The result is lower wait times for callers and a direct connection to local mental health resources.”

Before the change, calls to the national hotline from Johnson County would have been routed to Kansas Suicide Prevention Headquarters or an out of state call center. Now, they come into JCMHC. Calls are answered by the Crisis Assessment Team, which is made up of clinicians who staff the call center 24/7. Callers in crisis get support immediately with minimal hold times. If a current JCMHC client calls the national hotline, the Crisis Assessment Team is able to see their records and coordinate with their treatment team for response, which improves continuity of care for that individual.

“We have said for a long time that suicide prevention takes an entire community working together – individuals and organizations collaborating on a common goal” said JCMHC Director Tim DeWeese. “This was another way that we could partner with a leading organization in suicide prevention to make sure our community is getting the help they need when they need it.”

In the first three weeks of taking on National Suicide Prevention Lifeline calls, JCMHC’s 24/7 Crisis Line has averaged 33 calls per week. This is in addition to the 542 calls that have come in on the local crisis line number (913-268-0156), which is answered by the same team. Community members can call either phone number if they or someone they care for is experiencing a mental health crisis.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a national network of local crisis centers that provides free and confidential emotional support to people in suicidal crisis or emotional distress 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.