911-988 Call Transfers
Build and mature this vital partnership
Context: Since 2022, when 988 launched as a national three-digit number connected to local behavioral health crisis lines, local governments have been trying to figure out whether and how to transfer non-threatening 911 calls for mental health distress to 988 rather than defaulting to dispatching police.
Challenges include: which call types to transfer, how to ensure safety, how to decrease liability, and how to build 911 call taker trust so they have not only the permission to transfer calls, but also the confidence that it will provide better help to callers.
The opportunity: Approximately 200 million 911 calls go to police departments a year in the U.S. About 5-10% of these, or 40,000 calls per day, relate to a behavioral health challenge, and most of these would benefit from an unarmed, professionally trained mental health response.
Maturity model
Too often, 911-988 partnership initiatives start – and then stall – with the signing of a paper document, such as a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). This Maturity Model helps to paint the picture of the full progression over time of an effective partnership – bearing in mind that the most important signal of how well it is working is the volume of calls transferred. Use this Maturity model to diagnose your 911-988 current state and set goals for next steps.
Call types step chart
The question of which types of calls can be transferred from 911’s traditional responders (police, fire, EMS) to best fit responders (988, mobile crisis, mediation) is not answered once for all time. This chart shows a progression from easier calls to transfer, which may be a program’s starting point, followed by more complex yet very worthwhile expansions of call types that become possible as a program establishes itself and builds new capabilities.
Sample Project Timeline
This sample timeline provides a practical roadmap for a project manager tasked with convening and building a 911-988 partnership. It is meant as a starting point, to be edited to fit your local reality and goals.
Attribution: We provide editable resources so they can be maximally valuable, including adaptation to your local environment. If you edit one of our resources, please provide this attribution in a footer: “Adapted from materials by Dignity Best Practices.”
Selected Resources from Partners in This Space
NENA Standard for 9-1-1/988 Interactions (National Emergency Number Association)
988 Convening Playbook: Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) (NASMHPD)
Advising People on Using 988 Versus 911: Practical Approaches for Healthcare Providers (SAMHSA)
The Road to 988/911 Interoperability (RAND)
911–988 Interoperability Requires Improved Tracking and Federal Framework (CrisisJam article, by Stephanie Hepburn)
Comments on these resources, or another to suggest? We would love to hear from you at contact@dignitybestpractices.org