Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Mental Health Crisis Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Crisis line operators tell Senate rising demand requires restored funding in HB 96
Summary
Two crisis‑service providers told the Senate Finance Committee that call volumes to Ohio's 988 lifeline have climbed sharply and urged restoration of the governor's proposed funding after the House cut the appropriation.
Officials from Ohio crisis and behavioral‑health providers told the Senate Finance Committee the state's 988 suicide and crisis lifeline faces a steep and ongoing increase in demand and asked lawmakers to restore funding to levels proposed in the governor's executive budget.
Joseph Nijeweski of North Central Mental Health Services said call volumes have climbed sharply: January 2023 calls were 1,122; January 2024 calls rose to 1,744; and April 2025 volumes were 3,287 for that month. North Central projects it will answer more than 40,000 calls in 2025. He said most callers receive a clinical response that prevents a law‑enforcement dispatch or emergency hospitalization.
Dr. Bridal Stroh, CEO and medical director of NETcare, told senators her center’s 988 team deescalated crises by phone, text or chat in about 95% of contacts in 2024, sending in‑person mobile response for a small share and transferring only about 2% to 911‑based emergency responders. Both witnesses said the House reduced the executive budget funding for 988 below current operational needs. Nijeweski and Stroh urged the Senate to restore the governor’s executive proposal — $34 million in FY 2026 and $41 million in FY 2027 — to support staffing, training and the mobile crisis infrastructure tied to 988.
Why it matters: Providers said 988 is already averting emergency responses and hospitalizations by providing timely, clinician‑led crisis care; reduced funding, they warned, risks slower response times or fewer mobile crisis and stabilization resources.
Ending: Witnesses asked for restored appropriations in the omnibus budget and emphasized that funding 988 supports both public health outcomes and lowers downstream costs from emergency services and inpatient care.
