photo by: John Hanna/Associated Press

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly speaks during an event at the Kansas Statehouse in Topeka on Thursday, March 24, 2022.

Gov. Laura Kelly on Thursday signed into law a bill that creates a suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline and behavioral health intervention teams.

Senate Bill 19 is bipartisan legislation that will make it possible for Kansans to call 9-8-8 to receive support during a mental health emergency.

“The creation of the 9-8-8 suicide prevention hotline will provide Kansans immediate access to qualified mental health care providers during moments of crisis,” Kelly said in a news release Thursday. “There’s no doubt, having mobile crisis teams just a phone call away will save lives.”

The 9-8-8 hotline will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and will be within the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Centers network.

The mobile crisis teams are created through partnerships between behavioral health professionals and others who provide professional, community-based crisis intervention services, which include de-escalation and stabilization for Kansans experiencing a behavioral health crisis.

“The recent passage of SB 19 – the 988 Suicide Prevention Hotline Infrastructure bill – is monumental for the state of Kansas and the mental health community, allowing for our crisis call centers to be able to better provide for Kansans across the state,” Ryan Reza, National Alliance on Mental Illness Kansas, said in the release.