Mental health in Michigan

Michigan’s new three-digit hotline has produced a jump in calls by people in mental health distress since it began last summer. But advocates say the next step  – continued treatment for those callers – is fraught with delays because of a shortage of trained professionals. 

Michigan has lost hundreds of mental health treatment beds for kids in the juvenile justice and foster care systems due to staff shortages. Officials hope to boost staffing by offering steadier funding to residential treatment centers.

Michigan has taken scores of in-patient beds offline since April because it can’t hire enough staff to care for patients. State-run facilities treat the most severely ill patients, making the job draining and at times  perilous.

 In House testimony Thursday, backers argued that the bill, which applies to all patients in crisis, will likely most help children and teens, who sometimes waited in ERs for weeks during the pandemic to get the mental health care they needed.

If you are suicidal or otherwise in a mental health crisis, you can now call or text 988 to connect with a trained counselor at a nearby crisis center. It’s an alternative to 911, which often involves police and can sometimes escalate a crisis.