Take Action
We have an opportunity to #ReimagineCrisis. Join leading organizations to demand that our elected officials reimagine our crisis response system. Together, we can ensure that every person experiencing a mental health or suicidal crisis receives a humane response and is treated with dignity and respect.
Take action to #ReimagineCrisis in your community
Every person experiencing a mental health or suicidal crisis deserves a mental health response. And any person could be impacted by a behavioral health crisis. Contact your elected officials and urge them to implement this life-saving system of care and #ReimagineCrisis.
Learn more about state legislation to #ReimagineCrisis
Crisis response legislation is moving in statehouses across the country. To learn more about your state’s legislative action and what is moving in other states, NAMI has an in-depth map of state-level 988 legislation.
Resources from REIMAGINE partners
Our partner organizations have many resources available to help you advocate for a better crisis response system.
- 988 Crisis Jam Learning Community
- AFSP: Funding for 988 & crisis response
- AFSP: Crisis Lines: The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Network
- NAMI: 988: Reimagining Crisis Response
- NASMHPD Report: States’ Experiences in Legislating 988 and Crisis Services Systems
- The Trevor Project-Morning Consult Poll: U.S. Adults’ Knowledge on Suicide Prevention and 988 (April 2022)
- A Unified Vision for Transforming Mental Health and Substance Use Care
- Consensus Approach and Recommendations for the Creation of a Comprehensive Crisis Response System
- ACEP Webinar: 988 – The Future of Suicide Prevention and Crisis Care
- ACEP Podcast: Suicide Awareness and Prevention – Introducing 988
- Fountain House: The Voices Within Podcast Episode 9: EMERGENCY: Stories from a Mental Health Response System in Crisis
- NAMI Video: A Mental Health Crisis Deserves a Mental Health Response
- NAMI Press Release: As Launch of 988 Mental Health Crisis Number Looms, NAMI Poll Finds Broad Support for the System and Fees to Fund It, Opposition to Police Response to Mental Health Crises (November 2021)
- Op-ed by NAMI CEO Daniel H. Gillison, Jr.: “The new mental health hotline is a key step — but it must be properly funded”
- Kaiser Health News “What the Health” Podcast featuring NAMI Chief Advocacy Officer Hannah Wesolowski
- Op-ed from The Trevor Project & CLASP: “To make 988 truly transformative, here’s what needs to happen now”
- Fountain House: From Harm to Health: Centering Racial Equity and Lived Experience in Mental Health Crisis Response
- The Kennedy Forum Toolkit: 988: America’s First 3-Digit Mental Health Crisis Line
- NAAPIMHA: AANHPI-specific 988 Fliers and Social Media Assets
- NACo: Toolkit for Counites: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
- ACEP Clinical Tool: ICAR2E: Identifying Suicide Risk
- The American Journal of Emergency Medicine: ED recommendations for suicide prevention in adults: The ICAR2E mnemonic and a systematic review of the literature
- American Counseling Association Knowledge Center: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
- SAMHSA (in co-sponsorship with NASMHPD) 988 Implementation Guidance Playbooks
Resources for Policymakers
Below are available resources and guidance for federal, state and local policymakers looking to #ReimagineCrisis.
- Public Law 116-172: National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020
- SAMHSA: 988: Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
- SAMHSA: National Guidelines for Child and Youth Behavioral Health Crisis Care
- FCC-20-100: Designating 988 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
- FCC-21-119: Enabling Text-to-988 Access to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
- FCC: 988 Geolocation Report – National Suicide Hotline Designation Act
- H.R. 7116: The 988 Implementation Act of 2022
- The 988 Implementation Act Packet from Rep. Tony Cárdenas
- NASMHPD Model State Legislation (updated 02/22/2022)
- NASMHPD Report: States’ Experiences in Legislating 988 and Crisis Services Systems
- NASMHPD: Improving the Child and Adolescent Crisis System: Shifting from a 9-1-1 to a 9-8-8 Paradigm
- CrisisNow Crisis Resource Need Calculator (developed by RI International & McKinsey Health Institute)
- SAMHSA: National Guidelines for Child and Youth Behavioral Health Crisis Care
- MHTTC: A Guide to 988: America’s Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Lifeline
- SAMHSA: National Guidelines for Behavioral Health Crisis Care
- CMS SHO #21-008: Medicaid Guidance on the Scope of and Payments for Qualifying Community-Based Mobile Crisis Intervention Services
- Technical Assistant Collaborative: Mobile Crisis Teams: A State Planning Guide for Medicaid-Financed Crisis Response Services
- National Association of Medicaid Directors Federal Policy Brief: Crisis Response
- Vera Institute: Civilian Crisis Response: A Toolkit for Equitable Alternatives to Police
