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The nationwide hotline for mental health emergencies switches to a simple 988 number on Saturday, a transition that is expected to bring millions more calls, chats and texts into a system where readiness to handle the surge varies from place to place. At the same time, advocates hope the renewed focus on emergency assistance, and the spending that has accompanied it, will prompt expansion of other mental health services that are in desperately short supply in many communities. (Bernstein, 7/14)

The long-awaited three-digit crisis hotline known as 988 rolls out nationally Saturday, a win for mental health advocates who see the simplified number as the first step on a path toward building out crisis care. (Raman, 7/14)

"What's different and ambitious about the 988 project is that over time there are goals to have every call to the lifeline answered within local communities as opposed to as part of a national network, and also to couple the availability of call response in communities with a continuum of care to respond to and provide follow up for individuals who contact the lifeline," said Dr. Rebecca Brendel, president of the American Psychiatric Association. (Devereaux, 7/14)

There’s also apprehension over whether the other parts of the so-called crisis care continuum — such as mobile crisis teams staffed with mental health professionals and community-based treatment options — will be ready to meet the expected increase in demand. Federal officials expect up to 12 million calls, chats, and texts could come into 988 in its first year, and research suggests around 20 percent of those contacts will need some sort of in-person response. (Levi, Krebs, Herman and Barrett, 7/14)

911 intervention will be still be rare, says Michelle Doty Cabrera, executive director of the County Behavioral Health Directors Association of California. “When a person calls 911, they are expecting help to come to them,” she says. “If a person's calling a national suicide prevention hotline for emotional support, they may not want anyone to know who they are, let alone where they're at in that moment.” (Dembosky, 7/14)

Colorado mental health counselors in private practice say they’ve been surprised once again with new rules that will make it harder to treat the state’s most vulnerable patients: those with Medicaid insurance. (Brown, 7/14)