News – Sheridan Media
The COVID pandemic took its toll on people mentally and Wyoming’s Governor is pushing harder to get the funding for those who need someone to talk to, before the worst happens.
Speaking at the 2nd Annual Mental Health Summit in Casper, Governor Mark Gordon expressed the importance that Wyoming has funding for its two 988 call centers.
During the recent Legislative session, House Bill 65 was designed to set up a $46 million trust fund for the purpose, but the funding was pulled just two weeks into the session.
Gordon says when the funding issue comes up next year he doesn’t want to hear excuses that a phone call doesn’t do much.
Governor Mark Gordon
“When we go to the Legislature and we talk about the need to be able to have permanent funding for the 988 suicide hotline, that we won’t be met with comments about ‘phone calls don’t make a difference,’ because we know that they do. The highest number of volume of calls that we have seen, has been in the last year and we’ve also seen a lot of interventions that have worked.”
The 988 suicide and crisis lifeline is managed by the Wyoming Department of Health.
The Legislature also killed House Bill 34, which would have allowed school districts to apply for grants to assist in providing mental health services to K-12 public education students.
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Last modified: April 19, 2023