Indiana Family and Social Services Administration receives $4.9M 988 and Behavioral Health Crisis Services Programs from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

Indiana 988 capacity improvement - FY26 - for the Indiana 988 crisis modernization & capacity expansion project the Indiana division of mental health and addiction (dmha) proposes to strengthen the statewide crisis continuum by serving all 92 of Indiana’s counties. By building upon Indiana’s successful implementation of 988, this project will address organizational capacity needs related to statewide coordination, technology infrastructure, quality improvement, workforce support, and interoperability as demand for behavioral health crisis services continues to increase. The project will strengthen the capacity of Indiana’s three 988 contact centers, and statewide crisis continuum partners, to better serve individuals of all ages experiencing suicidal, mental health, substance use, and other behavioral health crises. The proposed enhanced capacity systems will particularly benefit individuals with serious mental illnesses, those at risk for suicide or overdose, familiar 988 visitors, veterans, and other populations experiencing behavioral health disparities. Capacity-building strategies include: implementing standardized statewide referral and triage guidance, enhancing statewide customer relationship management (crm) to improve follow-ups, referral tracking, mobile crisis coordination, and familiar visitor care coordination, expanding 911/988 interoperability through standardized diversion tools and joint training, strengthening statewide quality improvement and independent evaluation, improving care coordination across behavioral health providers, and increasing crisis system sustainability. The project goals are to improve statewide coordination and continuity of care, strengthen 911/988 interoperability, enhance follow-up and referral outcomes, improve care coordination for familiar visitors, expand mobile crisis integration, and establish a robust evaluation framework to support continuous quality improvement. The state’s key objectives for this project include implementing standardized referral and triage guidance for 100% of Indiana’s 988 crisis specialists and expanding the 911/988 diversion tool to 75% of the public safety answering points (psaps) by the conclusion of the grant period. Furthermore, Indiana intends to conduct statewide joint 911/988 refresher trainings, enhance the statewide crm to improve documentation and referral tracking, bolster mobile crisis care coordination and the implementation of standardized familiar visitor care coordination protocols, and establish an independent university partnership to evaluate system performance, service quality, and the return on investment (roi).