Health Lab Increasing Access to Care in Communities through 988
Developed with the Transform911 community of practice, the 988 workgroup provides opportunities for practitioners and others to share insights and troubleshoot issues as they arise. These lessons are being captured in a set of 988 implementation guidance recommendations for states and localities. We build on Transform911 in other ways as well. Our efforts to support the 911 workforce drew significant attention to the need to reclassify 911 professionals from their current administrative designation to one that recognizes them as vital first responders. Our efforts on this project focus on drawing attention to the 988 workforce and related first responder ecosystem. Working with our partners, we will also continue the development and dissemination of a first-of-its-kind “Callers’ Bill of Rights” to advocate that all callers are guaranteed a baseline level of service.
Health Lab and its partners invited a subset of Transform911’s community of practice to join a 988 workgroup on leveraging the lessons learned in Transform911. This workgroup, Inform988 was created to share advice and learning. The workgroup has been planning and developing a 988-implementation guidance document for states and localities, building off the Transform911’s Blueprint recommendations. This report will capture lessons learned as localities begin to implement Tranform911’s recommendations, documenting successes and working through challenges, with a particular emphasis on adapting Transform911’s “(Re)Introducing 911” recommendation to the 988 context to conduct a successful public information campaign. Inform988 will also adapt and advance the workforce development aspects of Transform911, this time focusing on the entire responder ecosystem. Building on the lessons from the June 29, 2022 Transform911 Blueprint launch, we are also advancing a “Callers’ Bill of Rights.” The Transform911 team and its partners are working to harmonize pathways between 911 and 988, highlighting the distinctions and overlap between the two.
Inform988 One-Pager
