Save the Date: Digital Day of Action on July 20 to Promote 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline to Criminal Justice Stakeholders
As you know, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will be implementing the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline on July 16, 2022. For criminal justice stakeholders, 988 is an important opportunity to shift people in crisis toward appropriate care and ideally minimize contact with law enforcement and the justice system. To fully take advantage of this, however, criminal justice partners need to be aware of what 988 provides and prepare processes to appropriately direct people to 988 prior to contact with law enforcement and through to reentry.
To promote the implementation of 988 to a criminal justice audience, The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, working closely with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance and SAMHSA, is organizing a broad group of national organizations involved with criminal justice and behavioral health crisis response to raise awareness through social media.
Together, we will host a digital “Day of Action” on Wednesday, July 20, 2022, focused on informing criminal justice stakeholders about the opportunities this new dialing code presents. We hope that you are interested in engaging in this day of action as a partner. Partners will receive a promotional toolkit that includes suggested language and digital graphics your organization can use on your social media and newsletter channels during the day of action. If your organization is interested in becoming a partner, please complete this form by Wednesday, July 13, 2022. If you have any questions, contact Hallie Fader-Towe at hfader@csg.org.
Thank you for your consideration and we hope you will join us in this effort!
Ayesha Delany-Brumsey, PhD
Director of Behavioral Health, the CSG Justice Center