(1) Establishing the state designated 988 contact hubs and enhancing the crisis response system will require collaborative work between the department, the authority, and regional system partners within their respective roles. The department shall have primary responsibility for designating 988 contact hubs, and shall seek recommendations from the behavioral health administrative services organizations to determine which 988 contact hubs best meet regional needs. The authority shall have primary responsibility for developing, implementing, and facilitating coordination of the crisis response system and services to support the work of the designated 988 contact hubs, regional crisis lines, and other coordinated regional behavioral health crisis response system partners. In any instance in which one agency is identified as the lead, the expectation is that agency will communicate and collaborate with the other to ensure seamless, continuous, and effective service delivery within the statewide crisis response system.

(2) The department shall provide adequate funding for the state's crisis call centers to meet an expected increase in the use of the 988 contact hubs based on the implementation of the 988 crisis hotline. The funding level shall be established at a level anticipated to achieve an in-state call response rate of at least 90 percent by July 22, 2022. The funding level shall be determined by considering standards and cost per call predictions provided by the administrator of the national suicide prevention lifeline, call volume predictions, guidance on crisis call center performance metrics, and necessary technology upgrades. Contracts with the 988 contact hubs:

(a) May provide funding to support designated 988 contact hubs to enter into limited partnerships with the public safety answering point to increase the coordination and transfer of behavioral health calls received by certified public safety telecommunicators that are better addressed by clinic interventions provided by the 988 system. Tax revenue may be used to support partnerships. These partnerships with 988 and public safety may be expanded to include regional crisis lines administered by behavioral health administrative services organizations;

(b) Shall require that 988 contact hubs enter into data-sharing agreements, when appropriate, with the department, the authority, regional crisis lines, and applicable regional behavioral health administrative services organizations to provide reports and client level data regarding 988 contact hub calls, as allowed by and in compliance with existing federal and state law governing the sharing and use of protected health information. Data-sharing agreements with regional crisis lines must include real-time information sharing. All coordinated regional behavioral health crisis response system partners must share dispatch time, arrival time, and disposition for behavioral health calls referred for outreach by each region consistent with any regional protocols developed under RCW 71.24.432. The department and the authority shall establish requirements for 988 contact hubs to report data to regional behavioral health administrative services organizations for the purposes of maximizing medicaid reimbursement, as appropriate, and implementing this chapter and chapters 71.05 and 71.34 RCW. The behavioral health administrative services organization may use information received from the 988 contact hubs in administering crisis services for the assigned regional service area, contracting with a sufficient number of licensed or certified providers for crisis services, establishing and maintaining quality assurance processes, maintaining patient tracking, and developing and implementing strategies to coordinate care for individuals with a history of frequent crisis system utilization.

(3) The department shall adopt rules by January 1, 2025, to establish standards for designation of crisis call centers as designated 988 contact hubs. The department shall collaborate with the authority, other agencies, and coordinated regional behavioral health crisis response system partners to assure coordination and availability of services, and shall consider national guidelines for behavioral health crisis care as determined by the federal substance abuse and mental health services administration, national behavioral health accrediting bodies, and national behavioral health provider associations to the extent they are appropriate, and recommendations from behavioral health administrative services organizations and the crisis response improvement strategy committee created in RCW 71.24.892.

(4) The department shall designate 988 contact hubs considering the recommendations of behavioral health administrative services organizations by January 1, 2026. The designated 988 contact hubs shall provide connections to crisis intervention services, triage, care coordination, and referrals for individuals contacting the 988 contact hubs from any jurisdiction within Washington 24 hours a day, seven days a week, using the system platform developed under subsection (5) of this section. The department may not designate more than a total of four 988 contact hubs without legislative approval.

(a) To be designated as a 988 contact hub, the applicant must demonstrate to the department the ability to comply with the requirements of this section and to contract to provide 988 contact hub services. If a 988 contact hub fails to substantially comply with the contract, data-sharing requirements, or approved regional protocols developed under RCW 71.24.432, the department may revoke the designation of the 988 contact hub and, after consulting with the affected behavioral health administrative services organization, may designate a 988 contact hub recommended by a behavioral health administrative services organization which is able to meet necessary state and federal requirements.

(b) The contracts entered shall require designated 988 contact hubs to:

(i) Have an active agreement with the administrator of the national suicide prevention lifeline for participation within its network;

(ii) Meet the requirements for operational and clinical standards established by the department and based upon the national suicide prevention lifeline best practices guidelines and other recognized best practices;

(iii) Employ highly qualified, skilled, and trained clinical staff who have sufficient training and resources to provide empathy to callers in acute distress, de-escalate crises, assess behavioral health disorders and suicide risk, triage to system partners for callers that need additional clinical interventions, and provide case management and documentation. Call center staff shall be trained to make every effort to resolve cases in the least restrictive environment and without law enforcement involvement whenever possible. Call center staff shall coordinate with certified peer counselors to provide follow-up and outreach to callers in distress as available. It is intended for transition planning to include a pathway for continued employment and skill advancement as needed for experienced crisis call center employees;

(iv) Train employees on agricultural community cultural competencies for suicide prevention, which may include sharing resources with callers that are specific to members from the agricultural community. The training must prepare staff to provide appropriate assessments, interventions, and resources to members of the agricultural community. Employees may make warm transfers and referrals to a crisis hotline that specializes in working with members from the agricultural community, provided that no person contacting 988 shall be transferred or referred to another service if they are currently in crisis and in need of emotional support;

(v) Prominently display 988 crisis hotline information on their websites and social media, including a description of what the caller should expect when contacting the crisis call center and a description of the various options available to the caller, including call lines specialized in the behavioral health needs of veterans, American Indian and Alaska Native persons, Spanish-speaking persons, and LGBTQ populations. The website may also include resources for programs and services related to suicide prevention for the agricultural community;

(vi) Collaborate with the authority, the national suicide prevention lifeline, and veterans crisis line networks to assure consistency of public messaging about the 988 crisis hotline;

(vii) Collaborate with coordinated regional behavioral health crisis response system partners within the 988 contact hub's regional service area to develop protocols under RCW 71.24.432, including protocols related to the dispatching of mobile rapid response crisis teams and community-based crisis teams endorsed under RCW 71.24.903;

(viii) Provide data and reports and participate in evaluations and related quality improvement activities, according to standards established by the department in collaboration with the authority; and

(ix) Enter into data-sharing agreements with the department, the authority, regional crisis lines, and applicable behavioral health administrative services organizations to provide reports and client level data regarding 988 contact hub calls, as allowed by and in compliance with existing federal and state law governing the sharing and use of protected health information, which shall include sharing real-time information with regional crisis lines. The department and the authority shall establish requirements that the designated 988 contact hubs report data to regional behavioral health administrative services organizations for the purposes of maximizing medicaid reimbursement, as appropriate, and implementing this chapter and chapters 71.05 and 71.34 RCW including, but not limited to, administering crisis services for the assigned regional service area, contracting with a sufficient number of licensed or certified providers for crisis services, establishing and maintaining quality assurance processes, maintaining patient tracking, and developing and implementing strategies to coordinate care for individuals with a history of frequent crisis system utilization.

(c) The department and the authority shall incorporate recommendations from the crisis response improvement strategy committee created under RCW 71.24.892 in its agreements with designated 988 contact hubs, as appropriate.

(5) The department and authority must coordinate to develop the technology and platforms necessary to manage and operate the behavioral health crisis response and suicide prevention system. The department and the authority must include designated 988 contact hubs, regional crisis lines, and behavioral health administrative services organizations in the decision-making process for selecting any technology platforms that will be used to operate the system. No decisions made by the department or the authority shall interfere with the routing of the 988 contact hubs calls, texts, or chat as part of Washington's active agreement with the administrator of the national suicide prevention lifeline or 988 administrator that routes 988 contacts into Washington's system. The technologies developed must include:

(a) A new technologically advanced behavioral health and suicide prevention crisis call center system platform for use in 988 contact hubs designated by the department under subsection (4) of this section. This platform, which shall be implemented as soon as possible and fully funded by January 1, 2026, shall be developed by the department and must include the capacity to receive crisis assistance requests through phone calls, texts, chats, and other similar methods of communication that may be developed in the future that promote access to the behavioral health crisis system; and

(b) A behavioral health integrated client referral system capable of providing system coordination information to designated 988 contact hubs and the other entities involved in behavioral health care. This system shall be developed by the authority.

(6) In developing the new technologies under subsection (5) of this section, the department and the authority must coordinate to designate a primary technology system to provide each of the following:

(a) Access to real-time information relevant to the coordination of behavioral health crisis response and suicide prevention services, including:

(i) Real-time bed availability for all behavioral health bed types and recliner chairs, including but not limited to crisis stabilization services, 23-hour crisis relief centers, psychiatric inpatient, substance use disorder inpatient, withdrawal management, peer-run respite centers, and crisis respite services, inclusive of both voluntary and involuntary beds, for use by crisis response workers, first responders, health care providers, emergency departments, and individuals in crisis; and

(ii) Real-time information relevant to the coordination of behavioral health crisis response and suicide prevention services for a person, including the means to access:

(A) Information about any less restrictive alternative treatment orders or mental health advance directives related to the person; and

(B) Information necessary to enable the designated 988 contact hubs to actively collaborate with regional crisis lines, emergency departments, primary care providers and behavioral health providers within managed care organizations, behavioral health administrative services organizations, and other health care payers to establish a safety plan for the person in accordance with best practices and provide the next steps for the person's transition to follow-up noncrisis care. To establish information-sharing guidelines that fulfill the intent of this section the authority shall consider input from the confidential information compliance and coordination subcommittee established under RCW 71.24.892;

(b) The means to track the outcome of the 988 call to enable appropriate follow-up, cross-system coordination, and accountability, including as appropriate: (i) Any immediate services dispatched and reports generated from the encounter; (ii) the validation of a safety plan established for the caller in accordance with best practices; (iii) the next steps for the caller to follow in transition to noncrisis follow-up care, including a next-day appointment for callers experiencing urgent, symptomatic behavioral health care needs; and (iv) the means to verify and document whether the caller was successful in making the transition to appropriate noncrisis follow-up care indicated in the safety plan for the person, to be completed either by the care coordinator provided through the person's managed care organization, health plan, or behavioral health administrative services organization, or if such a care coordinator is not available or does not follow through, by the staff of the designated 988 contact hub;

(c) A means to facilitate actions to verify and document whether the person's transition to follow-up noncrisis care was completed and services offered, to be performed by a care coordinator provided through the person's managed care organization, health plan, or behavioral health administrative services organization, or if such a care coordinator is not available or does not follow through, by the staff of the designated 988 contact hub;

(d) The means to provide geographically, culturally, and linguistically appropriate services to persons who are part of high-risk populations or otherwise have need of specialized services or accommodations, and to document these services or accommodations; and

(e) When appropriate, consultation with tribal governments to ensure coordinated care in government-to-government relationships, and access to dedicated services to tribal members.

(7) The authority shall:

(a) Collaborate with county authorities and behavioral health administrative services organizations to develop procedures to dispatch behavioral health crisis services in coordination with designated 988 contact hubs to effectuate the intent of this section;

(b) Establish formal agreements with managed care organizations and behavioral health administrative services organizations by January 1, 2023, to provide for the services, capacities, and coordination necessary to effectuate the intent of this section, which shall include a requirement to arrange next-day appointments for persons contacting the 988 contact hub or a regional crisis line experiencing urgent, symptomatic behavioral health care needs with geographically, culturally, and linguistically appropriate primary care or behavioral health providers within the person's provider network, or, if uninsured, through the person's behavioral health administrative services organization;

(c) Create best practices guidelines by July 1, 2023, for deployment of appropriate and available crisis response services by behavioral health administrative services organizations in coordination with designated 988 contact hubs to assist 988 hotline callers to minimize nonessential reliance on emergency room services and the use of law enforcement, considering input from relevant stakeholders and recommendations made by the crisis response improvement strategy committee created under RCW 71.24.892;

(d) Develop procedures to allow appropriate information sharing and communication between and across crisis and emergency response systems for the purpose of real-time crisis care coordination including, but not limited to, deployment of crisis and outgoing services, follow-up care, and linked, flexible services specific to crisis response; and

(e) Establish guidelines to appropriately serve high-risk populations who request crisis services. The authority shall design these guidelines to promote behavioral health equity for all populations with attention to circumstances of race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, and geographic location, and include components such as training requirements for call response workers, policies for transferring such callers to an appropriate specialized center or subnetwork within or external to the national suicide prevention lifeline network, and procedures for referring persons who access the 988 contact hubs to linguistically and culturally competent care.

(8) The department shall monitor trends in 988 crisis hotline caller data, as reported by designated 988 contact hubs under subsection (4)(b)(ix) of this section, and submit an annual report to the governor and the appropriate committees of the legislature summarizing the data and trends beginning December 1, 2027.

(9) Subject to authorization by the national 988 administrator and the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, any Washington state subnetwork of the 988 crisis hotline dedicated to the crisis assistance needs of American Indian and Alaska Native persons shall offer services by text, chat, and other similar methods of communication to the same extent as does the general 988 crisis hotline. The department shall coordinate with the substance abuse and mental health services administration for the authorization.

Findings—Intent—2021 c 302: "(1) The legislature finds that:

(a) Nearly 6,000 Washington adults and children died by suicide in the last five years, according to the federal centers for disease control and prevention, tragically reflecting a state increase of 36 percent in the last 10 years.

(b) Suicide is now the single leading cause of death for Washington young people ages 10 through 24, with total deaths 22 percent higher than for vehicle crashes.

(c) Groups with suicide rates higher than the general population include veterans, American Indians/Alaska Natives, LGBTQ youth, and people living in rural counties across the state.

(d) More than one in five Washington residents are currently living with a behavioral health disorder.

(e) The COVID-19 pandemic has increased stressors and substance use among Washington residents.

(f) An improved crisis response system will reduce reliance on emergency room services and the use of law enforcement response to behavioral health crises and will stabilize individuals in the community whenever possible.

(g) To accomplish effective crisis response and suicide prevention, Washington state must continue its integrated approach to address mental health and substance use disorder in tandem under the umbrella of behavioral health disorders, consistently with chapter 71.24 RCW and the state's approach to integrated health care. This is particularly true in the domain of suicide prevention, because of the prevalence of substance use as both a risk factor and means for suicide.

(2) The legislature intends to:

(a) Establish crisis call center hubs and expand the crisis response system in a deliberate, phased approach that includes the involvement of partners from a range of perspectives to:

(i) Save lives by improving the quality of and access to behavioral health crisis services;

(ii) Further equity in addressing mental health and substance use treatment and assure a culturally and linguistically competent response to behavioral health crises;

(iii) Recognize that, historically, crisis response placed marginalized communities, including those experiencing behavioral health crises, at disproportionate risk of poor outcomes and criminal justice involvement;

(iv) Comply with the national suicide hotline designation act of 2020 and the federal communications commission's rules adopted July 16, 2020, to assure that all Washington residents receive a consistent and effective level of 988 suicide prevention and other behavioral health crisis response and suicide prevention services no matter where they live, work, or travel in the state; and

(v) Provide higher quality support for people experiencing behavioral health crises through investment in new technology to create a crisis call center hub system to triage calls and link individuals to follow-up care.

(b) Make additional investments to enhance the crisis response system, including the expansion of crisis teams, to be known as mobile rapid response crisis teams, and deployment of a wide array of crisis stabilization services, such as 23-hour crisis stabilization units based on the living room model, crisis stabilization centers, short-term respite facilities, peer-run respite centers, and same-day walk-in behavioral health services. The overall crisis system shall contain components that operate like hospital emergency departments that accept all walk-ins and ambulance, fire, and police drop-offs. Certified peer counselors as well as peers in other roles providing support must be incorporated within the crisis system and along the continuum of crisis care." [ 2021 c 302 s 101.]