Mental Health Crisis Hotline

(Jefferson City) The 49-billion-dollar state budget proposal includes several efforts to help Missourians dealing with a mental or behavioral health crisis.

Valerie Huhn, the Missouri Department of Mental Health Director, says the budget includes additional funding to launch a national 9-8-8 crisis hotline in July with 45 statewide mobile crisis response teams, and 22 behavioral health crisis centers.

At least 13 of those centers are open today, and Huhn says one of the concerns will be finding enough workers to help with these efforts.

The deadline for the governor to take action on the state budget proposal is the end of June.