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Crisis-line providers push Senate to restore 988 funding after House cut
Summary
Multiple providers — including North Central Mental Health Services and NETcare — told the Senate Finance Committee that the House reduced the governor's proposed 988 lifeline funding and urged restoration to the executive proposal to handle surging call volumes and to sustain mobile response and stabilization services.
Representatives of crisis-line and behavioral health providers urged senators to restore the governor's executive proposal for 988 suicide and crisis lifeline funding after the House reduced the appropriation. Joseph Nijeweski of North Central Mental Health Services and Dr. Bridal Stroh of NETcare each told the committee that call volumes have surged and additional staff and operational funding are needed to answer every call and provide follow-up mobile response where appropriate.
Nut graf: Witnesses said 988 is a clinical crisis service that diverts calls from law enforcement and emergency departments by providing de-escalation and follow-up supports. Providers said the House reduced the governor's $34 million/'26 and $41 million/'27 proposal to $20 million per year, a level they said would fall below current operational costs amid rising call volumes.
Nijeweski cited monthly increases in calls — from about 1,122 calls in January 2023 to 3,287 calls in April 2025 for North Central alone — and projected more than 40,000 calls in 2025. "When someone calls 988, they speak directly to a service provider and not with a dispatcher," he said, noting that 99% of calls are resolved without a law-enforcement dispatch. Netcare reported that 95% of its 26,000-plus contacts in 2024 did not require dispatch, and that most contacts are safely de-escalated by counselors and social workers in phone, text or chat interactions.
Both witnesses urged that the Senate restore the executive budget funding to $34 million in FY26 and $41 million in FY27 so 988 programs can recruit, train and retain staff and expand mobile response services. No formal appropriation action occurred at the hearing; providers requested the restoration in the omnibus amendment.
Ending: Providers asked senators to view 988 funding as a preventive and cost-effective service that reduces emergency-department visits and law-enforcement involvement in behavioral-health crises.
