Colorado’s crisis line will get a new operator, but with a two-month delay in the switchover while the Arizona-based company hires a local workforce.
Since 2010, Rocky Mountain Crisis Partners has answered calls to the state’s 844-493-8255 (TALK) suicide prevention hotline and those placed to the 2-year-old national 988 Lifeline from a Colorado area code.
The organization’s contract came up for renewal this year, and the state opted to go with a different company, Solari Crisis and Human Services.
Solari answers Arizona’s 988 calls and calls to its state-specific crisis line. The company also fields 988 calls for Oklahoma and acts as a backup center when other states can’t take a call.
In Colorado’s request for proposals, officials said the new contract would start July 1. Less than a week before the scheduled switchover, however, the Colorado Behavioral Health Administration confirmed that the two companies will operate the lines together until September, when Solari will take over.
“This extension allows for workforce transitions — including current RMCP staff to receive training and onboarding at Solari — which were held back due to actions taken by RMCP at the end of the re-procurement process,” Behavioral Health Administration spokeswoman Stefany Busch said in a statement.
Rocky Mountain Crisis Partners filed an administrative challenge to the state’s decision in May, pushing back the transition timeline. It also could have filed an appeal by June 6, but opted not to. Solari and the state didn’t finalize a contract until Wednesday.
On May 1, Rocky Mountain Crisis Partners filed a notice with the Colorado Department of Labor that it would lay off all of its 330 employees on June 30. Employers can opt not to go through with layoffs if conditions change.
Employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity to The Denver Post in April expressed concerns that Solari wouldn’t hire people with experience in Colorado, which they thought would be jarring to frequent crisis line callers who had gotten accustomed to hearing a familiar voice.
The state didn’t set a specific rate for running the call center, but accepted bids. Solari said it could handle the combined 988 and state crisis line work for about $20 million in the first year and $19.5 million in the second year, according to its proposal filed with the state. Rocky Mountain Crisis Partners bid about $24 million for the first year.
Rocky Mountain Crisis Partners referred questions to the Behavioral Health Administration. Solari said it couldn’t comment until it signs its contract with the state.
The federal government rolled out the 988 Lifeline in summer 2022, giving people in crisis an easier-to-remember alternative to the existing suicide prevention line. Both numbers still work, and connect callers to the same services.
The most recent data showed someone from Rocky Mountain Crisis Partners answered about 73% of Colorado calls, though the group said their internal data shows an answer rate of closer to 95%, since they don’t count people who hang up in the first seconds of a call.
In Arizona and Oklahoma, the rates were 90% and 89%, respectively, though each received fewer calls than Colorado.
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Originally Published: June 27, 2024 at 6:00 a.m.
