Dec 4, 2019
By Courtney Collins & Domini Davis
KERA News
https://www.keranews.org/post/texas-get-funds-improve-suicide-prevention-lifeline
Texas Health and Human Services is getting a financial boost from the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline aimed to help more Texans get the mental health help they need.
The $3 million, two-year grant will help the state’s Suicide Prevention Lifeline call centers better respond to residents in crisis by increasing the number of answered calls, reducing wait times and connecting them to local treatment facilities or emergency service centers.
Currently only about 31% of in-state calls to the Suicide Prevention Lifeline are answered here in Texas. Officials hope the funding will raise Texas’ answer rate to 70% — lowering the need to re-route calls to centers outside the state.
