Soon, Californians will be able to dial a new three-digit number when seeking help for a mental health crisis.
After weeks in which funding to make the hotline work in California seemed uncertain, the state Department of Health Care Services announced last week that it would spend $20 million to help support the 9-8-8 network — billed as a “robust statewide call center” designed to be an alternative to 9-1-1 calls.
The money “is a first step towards creating an easier to access system for mental health care. But it’s just a first step,” Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said in a statement. The Steinberg Institute he founded had advocated for even more money… READ MORE
