Beacon Health Options Will Manage Crisis Hotline and 988 Services in New Hampshire

New hotline will help callers through crisis, support communities

MANCHESTER, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Beacon Health Options is pleased to announce during Suicide Prevention Month its first contract in the Northeast to manage a crisis hotline, inclusive of 988 services, for the New Hampshire Rapid Response System.

The statewide Department of Health and Human Services multi-year contract to operate the New Hampshire Rapid Response Access Point, which begins in January, will allow Beacon to also become one of the New Hampshire answering points for 988, the behavioral health version of 911, when it launches in July.

“Our immediate goal is to help alleviate the distress for the caller in crisis and then improve their overall experience accessing care by actively connecting them or scheduling the services they need to better manage the crisis and their condition long-term,” said Wendy Farmer, Beacon’s crisis leader. “We believe this approach can help decrease the strain on Emergency Rooms and law enforcement.”

Beacon uses coordinated system technology and trained intake specialists and licensed clinicians to take callers through the initial 1-800 line and later the 988 line to help de-escalate the crisis if possible and quickly connect the callers to the services they need.

Depending on the level of the crisis and the caller’s distress, that can include connecting the caller to social services, getting the caller referrals to outpatient and inpatient services or deploying a Regional Rapid Response Team managed by a local community mental health center. If the person in crisis needs a higher level of intervention, Beacon will collaborate with emergency services. The crisis center will also support text and chat and will use peer specialists to help engage individuals in ongoing care and services.

“The 10 community mental health centers serving our state are supportive of an integrated crisis system,” said Roland Lamy, executive director of the New Hampshire Community Behavioral Health Centers. “We look forward to collaborating with Beacon.”

Beacon’s data informed crisis system provides information it can share with communities to have a better understanding of where there are gaps in services, which services are more available than others and crises drivers. Then, working with community collaboratives facilitated by Beacon, that data can be used to plan for how to better address the drivers of crisis and ensure New Hampshire residents in need have a responsive and well-organized safety net prepared to serve them in their hour of need.

About Beacon Health Options

Beacon Health Options is a leading behavioral health services company serving one out of six people across all 50 states. We work with employers, health plans and government agencies to support mental health and emotional wellbeing, crisis and foster care, substance use disorder recovery, and employee health programs that improve the health and wellness of people every day. Our multi-modal, insights driven approach allows us to integrate social, behavioral and physical health solutions to drive improved outcomes for everyone we serve. By collaborating with a network of providers in communities around the country, we help individuals live their lives to the fullest potential. For more information, visit www.beaconhealthoptions.com and connect with us on www.facebook.com/beaconhealthoptions, www.twitter.com/beaconhealthopt and www.linkedin.com/company/beacon-health-options.