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Setting the bar for more services for Hoosiers

Greensburg Daily News - 1/15/2021

Jan. 15—INDIANAPOLIS — In response to COVID-19, Indiana launched the Be Well Indiana Crisis Helpline for those whose struggles with mental health have been made more difficult by the pandemic. But the service is soon to end.

The 24/7 hotline, launched in July 2020, provides free and confidential assistance and connects callers with trained counselors. The resources range from overcoming substance abuse and coping during the pandemic to housing and public services throughout Indiana. The related website features videos where professionals share tips on mental health.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), one in five adults live with a mental health condition but fewer than half get the appropriate help.

A crisis counselor at Be Well Indiana, Lynetta Laws, has worked with suicide prevention helplines and domestic violence intervention for five years. She believes Be Well Indiana, which has received callers between the ages of 12 and 85, is the most successful in helping people.

"I honestly believe that this is an amazing step forward, especially during a pandemic when people aren't able to get into their mental health providers as they normally have been," Laws said.

Even though there are other services to help, Be Well Indiana focuses on COVID-19 pandemic issues. But the service, funded by the Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program grant, is a short-term program. It will be funded only until June 2021.

Laws gets an average of three to five calls during her shift.

"It's always challenging but rewarding," Laws said. "I feel blessed that I'm in a position that I can be that voice on the other end of the line when somebody is at that point where they're reaching out for help."

According to an article by the Indiana Business Journal, Indiana ranks seventh in the country for states that don't meet mental illnesses needs. Kathy Barnum, a volunteer at the local National Alliance on Mental Illness in Southeast Indiana, says Indiana has a long way to go when it comes to mental health.

"I definitely think we have improvements to make in how we manage people with mental illness," Barnum said. "We are way underfunded, and of course everybody has staffing problems as well."

However, Barnum says Indiana is slowly improving, especially in addiction support. She's hopeful for the future, but Indiana is "not done."

David Berman, vice president of harm reduction and crisis stabilization programs for Mental Health America of Indiana, says the mental health sector is widely underfunded.

Indiana has five National Suicide Prevention Lifeline centers throughout the state. When someone makes a call in a county that doesn't have a crisis center, it gets rerouted through regional hubs and then directed to the needed services. However, Indiana is losing some hubs, therefore slowing down the process and taking time from those who might be distressed.

"We're about to lose another one in a couple of months," Berman said. "And it's going to put a stranglehold on the ability of us to respond. So we're already operating under a weakened infrastructure of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline."

The federally funded National Suicide Prevention Lifeline was created by the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration alongside Vibrant Emotional Health in January 2005.

The Indiana General Assembly has seven House bills and nine Senate bills that relate to mental health this legislative term. They range from bringing awareness to students suicide prevention to providing inmates the appropiate help for mental illnesses.

According to Indiana State Mental Health Disaster Program director Kelsi Linville, counselors at Be Well Indiana serve as an intervention for those who need it. They are prepared for psychological first aid, and if it is beyond their ability, counselors will direct callers to their primary care doctor.

The staff are trained licensed counselors and social workers or have years of experience in other health professions. They are trained to understand the reactions of the callers and assess the situation to then direct them to the necessary resources.

"[We] help people tap into their natural strengths and resilience or perhaps develop new coping skills," Linville said.

Laws says that the goal is to de-escalate the situations when she gets a distressed call. When the calls get out of her control or she doesn't know how to proceed, her team, although remote, reaches out to help. The online service connects all the counselors so they can support each other when needed. If things cannot be handled, 9-1-1 is called for assistance.

"[Maybe] they're just in that moment where, you know, it is midnight and they can't talk to their therapist, and they really just need somebody to say, 'Hey, I'm here, and I've got you right now, let's talk out what's going on,'" Laws said.

Linville encourages those who've thought about making a call to do so. The services are open for anyone about any topic.

"There's really nothing to lose, it's free, it's confidential, and we would much rather support people who are just having a bit of struggles and help them get over that hump than not reach out and then turning into a whole crisis," Linville said.

The legislative session of 2020 added the Be Well helpline to the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration (IFSSA).

"We see the value in the Be Well Crisis Helpline and will explore options on how to continue the service past its current expiration date," deputy director of communications Marni Lemons said in a statement. The Statehouse File could not immediately obtain additional information about the program's prospects of continuing or a timeline.

To seek help from Be Well Indiana, call 2-1-1, enter your ZIP code and follow the subsequent directions. For those who prefer texting, they may text Home to 741741 to be connected with someone.

Carolina Puga Mendoza is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.

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