988 is the Federal Communications Commission's approved crisis resource telephone number for individuals experiencing a mental health crisis. The primary purpose of the 988 service will be to prevent mental health crises escalating into emergencies – not to respond to emergencies caused by an individual in crisis.
The issue of 911 responses to mental health crises dates from the 1970s when a combination of factors led to the systematic mass closing of state-run residential psychiatric hospitals. Lack of adequate support resulted in an increase in crime, arrest rates, incarceration, and homelessness among the mentally ill.
In April 2019 the ‘Alianna Alert’ Law went into effect in Ohio requiring all schools to alert parents if their children are absent from school within two hours of school starting. This law was named after Alianna DeFreeze, whose murder proved schools were failing to notify parents when their students were not in school.
Most states have rapid response units tasked with responding to community outbreaks of COVID-19 and minimizing the impact of the virus. While not all rapid response units are assigned the title of “strike team”, they all do much the same thing - albeit on different scales.
Domestic violence or intimate partner violence is one of the most prevalent safety issues. Studies have shown that nearly half of domestic violence incidents go unreported. Learn how local law enforcement agencies are protecting domestic abuse victims and the tools available to protect them.
Every day all across the U.S., 9-1-1 telecommunicators, supervisors, public educators and many others work around the clock to provide help to every person who needs it. April was #911EducationMonth, and here are some of our favorite #ThankYou911 posts from this year.
Learn ways that employers can do better to protect employees who may be struggling with domestic or partner violence in the workplace or in their personal lives.