photo by: Austin Hornbostel/Journal-World

Jared Auten, Kansas Suicide Prevention Headquarters’ crisis line director, Bert Nash mobile response team program manager Edie Harrison and mobile response team program supervisor Blaire Hines walked the Douglas County Commission through a data presentation at its Wednesday, April 19, 2023 meeting.

As Douglas County refines its tools for helping people with behavioral health crises, including a mobile response team and a special hotline, county leaders want even more data about the impact they’re making.

At its meeting Wednesday, the Douglas County Commission looked at a summary of six months’ worth of data from the Douglas County Crisis Line and Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center’s mobile crisis response team. The crisis line launched last July, at the same time as the national shift to the three-digit 988 dialing code that routes callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and the mobile team launched a few months later in September. The presentation said that as of the end of March, the mobile team had responded to more than 80 calls since its launch, and that the number of calls had grown steadily from month to month.

County leaders seemed pleased that the data already showed the impact of the new services, and Commissioner Patrick Kelly said he wanted to see even more data presentations moving forward so county leaders could better grasp the effects of behavioral health initiatives in the community.

“I appreciate our behavioral health partners who are doing so much to set the tone for what we expect in Douglas County when it comes to data-driven decision making,” Kelly said. “… I think that’s something that’s very important to this commission, and those I talk to in the community, that’s very important to them.”

In addition to the data about the crisis line’s calls, there was also general data about how referrals have been resolved. About 86% of calls referred to the mobile team have been resolved out in the community, while the remaining 14% have required a higher level of care from providers like LMH Health or other area health care facilities. The presentation also highlighted the mobile response team’s average response time of 12 minutes, and the average encounter length of about an hour and a half.

The crisis line and the mobile response team go hand-in-hand, as the mobile team responds to calls dispatched by 988, first responders and other area agencies. Jared Auten, Kansas Suicide Prevention Headquarters’ crisis line director, told commissioners Wednesday that the seamless relationship has already proven to be important, even though the majority of crises tend to be resolved over the phone without the mobile team having to respond.

“That’s the hope, giving people support where they need it, when they need it, in an accessible way,” Auten said. “And sometimes, people are going to need a higher level of care, and we can activate that mobile response quickly and seamlessly for the person in need.”

Commissioners did have some questions for Auten, including whether any cross-training was taking place with other local agencies that operate their own hotlines for folks experiencing a crisis. Auten said such training does happen, most recently with the Sexual Trauma and Abuse Care Center around providing support to victims and survivors of sexual violence.

“We’re always looking for opportunities to educate our staff,” Auten said. “… Because of the nature of our work, you never know who you’re going to be interacting with, so it does kind of require you to sample information and education from a wide breadth of knowledge.”

In other business, the commission:

* Adopted a resolution to establish a minimum maintenance designation on a portion of North 1075 Road east of Clinton Lake.

With the commission’s approval, signs will be erected at the road within 10 days to indicate the new designation. The stretch of road crosses two large streams that the county’s Public Works Department has determined aren’t suitable for residential use or emergency access. The designation eliminates the potential for residential uses along the road segment and leaves future development contingent on the construction of a county-maintained bridge to serve the area.