ATLANTA — Jolyn Matheson knows what it’s like to feel judged for mental health.

In her role as a certified peer specialist for Georgia’s mental health crisis lines, she aims to make “guests” feel welcome with no judgement.

“We call them guests because a guest is a welcome visitor. So when our guests come to us, it’s quite possibly the worst day of their life. They’re at their lowest point, and they’re just looking for understanding and compassion and empathy, guidance, and most important of all, they’re looking for hope,” a tearful Matheson said during the May 19 Spotlight Georgia: The One-Year Anniversary of the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline town hall. “And for me to be able to provide any of that is an honor because somebody provided that for me at one point in my life.”

Approaching the one-year mark since the launch of the national 988 crisis line, Georgians have used crisis lines for mental health or substance abuse assistance 12% more since July 2022.

The easier to remember 988 crisis line aims to serve as an alternative 911 and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-8255(TALK). The Georgia Crisis and Access Line (GCAL) is still operational 1-800-715-4225.

“Law enforcement would reach out to us, and they’ve utilized that 988 number also, which I think is really great because with law enforcement reaching out, it’s taken away the criminal aspect from from mental health,” said Elvin Gittens, a Georgia certified peer specialist for 988. “And now they’re putting it back to where these individuals can really get the support and the care that they need instead of going through a court system.

Of the 21,618 calls, texts or chats received through GCAL or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline in Georgia during April 2022, 20.24% were from NSPL. In April 2023, 22.97% of communications through crisis lines in Georgia were received from the 988 number.

Ashley Fielding, assistant commissioner for the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities’ Agency Affairs, said rural and south Georgia have the largest increase in contacts to the crisis lines.

“Stigma is stronger in rural areas, and mental health is not seen as part of general health care routine,” Fielding said.

Rural areas also have fewer medical options and fewer psychologists, social workers and clinicians.

“Access to treatment for those people who do reach out is harder to find, and what we found there is that as a result of that, people end up entering the system at the point of crisis instead of earlier in the in the journey of their mental illness,” Fielding said.

While the number of calls requiring active rescue is 1%, the volume of contacts requiring mobile crisis dispatch has increased more than 54% from April 2020. Mobile crisis units are dispatched when the crisis line operator determines the person needs further assessment or in-person interaction to determine the level of care needed.

The units typically consist of a clinician and a certified peer specialist who typically has a lived experience with substance abuse or mental illness. They’re driving a regular car and wearing regular clothes, Fielding explained.

“If they’re able to deescalate the crisis on scene, what they might do is just connect that person to an outpatient appointment as soon as possible,” Fielding explained. “If they think that that person might need maybe a short-term stabilization at one of our crisis centers around the state, then they would work with our partners at the Georgia Crisis and Access Line to identify an available bed and stay if they need it. … Most of the time, that is a voluntary conversation and decision because evidence shows the outcomes are better when people seek treatment voluntarily.”

State lawmakers approved $6.29 million for mobile crisis teams to address increasing demand for adult mental health services in the fiscal year 2024 budget, which starts in July.

However, Gov. Brian Kemp vetoed $2.25 million state lawmakers approved in the 2024 budget for additional funding and program support to manage the 988 hotline.

“These funds would increase administrative funding to the 988 hotline rather than direct response services for those in crisis,” Kemp stated in his veto. “Call volume has not increased to a level requiring additional administrative support over existing levels.”

The 988 crisis line was signed into law by former President Donald Trump in 2020 with anticipation that states would collect funds to build the system in addition to federal funding.

Fielding said while that state has been generous with funding for crisis lines operation the last couple of years, DBHDD has also prioritized some COVID relief funds received through block grants.

“Prior to the rollout of 988, about a year prior, it was taking us about two minutes to answer the phone, and now we’re consistently answering it in around seven seconds on average,” she said, crediting the financial investments which have allowed for a boost in call takers.

Overall, referrals to Crisis Stabilization Units or Behavioral Health Crisis Centers have increased by 6% from April 2021 to April 2023.

Georgia has about 540 beds for adults in mental health/substance abuse crisis, and health officials are now analyzing where and what type of beds are needed throughout the state. Health officials estimate Georgia needs about 500 more beds to accommodate future needs.

Lack of health care workers also effects the number of available beds.

“Georgia, like every other state in the country, has a shortage of behavioral health workforce professionals … We have beds today that are not available to Georgians because there are not enough staff to put to make sure that that’s a safe care environment,” Fielding said. “So on any given week, probably about 15% of those 540 adult crisis beds are offline. It’s a little bit higher percentage in our child and adolescent beds because those are just more specialized forms of care.”

Kemp vetoed proposed funding for additional behavioral health crisis beds, and proposed salary increase recommendations to behavioral health positions. He instead encouraged health officials to identify specific positions with ongoing turnover instead of across-the-board salary increases.