"A professionally trained crisis specialist will provide support and needed resources for anyone calling the crisis line. To access the program those struggling with mental health concerns can dial 211, press 1, text their zip code to 898211, or chat with a counselor online. Quinton Askew, president of the state's 2-1-1 system, is tasked with developing the program and hiring mental health counselors to staff it. "So I won't be surprised if things increase for a while, if they get more intense as we're coming out of the pandemic." "Anytime that change is happening in our life, it's normal to have anxiety or uncertainty or sadness or to feel some sense of just needing to kind of slow things down. Aparicio added that she expects to see calls increase over the next few months, even as people begin to return to pre-pandemic life. Liz Aparicio, an assistant professor of behavioral health with University of Maryland's School of Public Health, says the proactive check-in system is an innovative approach to crisis response. Nationwide, calls and messages to the NAMIHelpLine were up 70% in 2020 compared to 2019, according to a February report. During the pandemic, mental health crisis calls to Maryland's 211 system increased 61% in the last quarter of 2020 compared with the same time period in 2019, according to the Maryland Department of Health. She said the new law came to fruition in part because of a spike in mental health crisis calls during the pandemic. "We can replicate that for mental health issues," Cyphers said.Ĭyphers testified for the bill in Annapolis earlier this year. The state already had 2-1-1 programs for seniors to opt-in to get reminders about taking medication and doctors' appointments. "It gives a lot of hope to the behavioral health community.It's brave and it's brought a lot of hope to many families that deal with mental illness," Cyphers said.
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