State agency talks services, systems, 988

TIFFIN — Members of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services attended Monday's Behavioral Health Summit hosted by the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board of Seneca, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wyandot Counties to discuss services, systems and the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline. Tia Marcel Moretti, chief advisor and deputy director of the Office of Community and Family Resiliency, gave an overview of Ohio's mental health care state. "We have all witnessed the bright light that has been shining on this field for the past five or so years." Marcel Moretti said. "Those who have been in the field for many more years have waited for this moment and waited to seize these opportunities for funding, attention and to say to the community what we know is happening." She discussed three areas that are important in mental health right now: the opioid epidemic, mental health challenges that continue to rise to the surface and social media use in youth. "The focus, the resources and the investments in this work have been historic, especially here in Ohio," she concluded. "Mental health and addiction services are a priority today, but we know that that may not be the case tomorrow." Michelle Allison, crisis systems administrator, discussed the state's ideal crisis continuum of connecting, responding, stabilizing and thriving to support individuals and families in crisis. "Connecting is about having someone you can call, text or chat with to connect you to services," Allison said. "Response is about having someone to physically respond to a crisis. Stabilization is giving someone a save space to work through their current crisis." She added that Ohio's crisis continuum's thriving aspect is unique to the state. This aspect focuses on what an individual or family can do to prevent another behavioral health crisis in the future. The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services envisions every Ohioan having access to crisis services and quality services. Allison explained that the state's role in crisis response is to provide leadership through a shared vision and principles, support for infrastructure development, and shared measures and measurement resources for services. The department was able to allocate $90 million in ARPA funds to hospitals for capital improvements and infrastructure. The Northwest region of hospitals in Ohio received $16 million for capital and $2 million for infrastructure. Doug Jackon, 988 suicide and crisis lifeline administrator, discussed the system since it was launched in 2022. He explained that the federal government designed 988 and was an unfunded mandate for each state. The states were given one year to develop a plan and the lifeline in Ohio was launched in July 2022. "In the first two years, what we've seen is increased use of 988," Jackson said. "It's becoming known to people." He shared the following statistics: In two years, there have been 339,30 total contacts to the lifeline, including texts, calls, and chats. The Ohio line has an answer rate of 25 seconds, compared to 36 seconds nationally. The average number of 988 contacts per month is 14,141. The average number of chats from Ohio area codes per month is 1,652. The average number of calls from Ohio area codes per month is 9,804. The average number of texts from Ohio area codes per month is 2,686. Jackson said there is a plan to provide statewide data about 988, which will include data from each county. The purpose of including county data is to help each county understand the needs of its residents. The 988 awareness campaign, launched in May 2024, aimed to increase awareness from 36% of the state's population to 50%. Editor's note: Check out Thursday's edition to read about how the Division of Cannabis Control is handling recreational marijuana.