What number do you call when you need police, fire or emergency medical services? You call 911. But, when you have an emotional or mental health crisis, which number do you call? Starting July 2022 all you’ll need to do is call 988 anywhere in the United States. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is moving to a direct three-digit call/text and chat service that will help millions of Americans of all ages access support and services when experiencing any emotional and mental health crisis, not only thoughts of suicide. This 988 service will help end stigma toward those seeking or accessing mental healthcare, and will ensure that someone experiencing an emotional or mental health crisis has someone to talk to, someone to respond, and somewhere to go. It will also reduce the use of law enforcement and other safety resources for these types of crises, and reduce healthcare spending with more cost-effective early intervention. The CT Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) and the Department of Children and Families (DCF) will provide an overview of youth and adult mobile emergency crisis services available to CT residents.

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PRESENTERS:

ERIKA ECHEVARRIA, LCSW

Mrs. Echevarria is a Behavioral Health Clinical Manager at the CT Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Office of the Commissioner, Evidence-Based Practices and Grants Division. Mrs. Echevarria has worked as a licensed clinical social worker for 10 years supporting individuals in accessing and receiving mental health and substance use services. The majority of her career she has worked with adult mobile crisis services, as a mobile crisis clinician and manager and currently is the administrator overseeing the 18 DMHAS adult mobile crisis teams. In the course of her career she has offered direct clinical care, specialized in biopsychosocial assessments and managed outpatient and inpatient programs. Her preferred evidence-based treatment modalities include Motivational Interviewing (MI), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT). Mrs. Echevarria led the development and implementation of the ACTION Line (the centralized call center for adults in crisis in CT) and is a co-project director of CT’s 988 Implementation Grant. She is best known for her work in the Latino community, offering clinical therapy to monolingual, Spanish speaking only individuals and developing Latino Services at a private non-profit agency in East Hartford, CT. She has partnered with the National Hispanic and Latino MHTTC and the Northeast & Caribbean MHTTC to launch an initiative titled, “Facilitating a Culture of Behavioral Health Recovery in Hispanic and Latino Communities”. This multi-year initiative is focused on creating products and delivering TA at all levels to support Hispanic and Latinos with Lived Experience, their families and providers working with Hispanic and Latino communities. Mrs. Echevarria has served as a member of the CT Suicide Advisory Board (CTSAB) statewide coalition and the CTSAB Zero Suicide Learning Community Committee for Health and Behavioral Healthcare Systems, and is a co-facilitator of the DMHAS Mobile Crisis Steering Committee. Mrs. Echevarria is the co-chair of the Mobile Crisis Response Learning Collaborative. She earned a B.A. in Social Work and Criminology at Central CT State University and a M.A. in Social Work at the University of Connecticut (UCONN). She is a certified field instructor and has worked closely with graduate students, providing them with clinical and professional training. To contact her via e-mail: erika.echevarria@ct.gov .

ANDREA IGER DUARTE, LCSW, MPH BIO

Ms. Duarte is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Public Health Professional who received her Masters Degrees from the University of Connecticut and has over 25 years of experience in substance abuse and suicide prevention, and mental health promotion. Ms. Duarte is a Behavioral Health Program Manager in the Prevention and Health Promotion Division of the CT Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Office of the Commissioner. She oversees federal and statewide initiatives and contracts, is the Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Promotion Initiative Director, and Employee Assistance Program Liaison. Ms. Duarte is a chair and member of many statewide committees, a founding member of the CT Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, developer of the Gizmo’s Pawesome Guide to Mental Health© and Elementary Curriculum, and has served as the Co-Chair of the CT Suicide Advisory Board since January 2012.

YVETTE CORTEZ

Yvette Cortez is a Program Supervisor with the Department of Children and Families in the Division of Community Mental Health. She has 18 years of experience working for DCF in the regional offices where she managed a staff of social workers and supervisors. She has experience with virtually all facets of child welfare. For the last 2 years, she has served as the program lead for several behavioral health programs for youth in CT, including Mobile Crisis Intervention Services, First Episode Psychosis & Evidence-Based Practices such as MATCH/TF-CBT. Ms. Cortez is actively working on the expansion of Mobile Crisis services to 24/7/365 to ensure that all youth have access to emergency crisis services. She also serves as the lead for the Disaster Behavioral Health Response Network for CT. Ms. Cortez manages multiple federal mental health grants, including the AWARE Grant and Mental Health Block Grant. Ms. Cortez recently became a lead for the Connecticut's Children Behavioral Health Plan, the driving guide to the system of care for children's behavioral health in CT. Ms. Cortez' commitment to Racial Justice and Equity is transparent in all the work she does. As a trainer in Implicit Bias, Ms. Cortez assists professionals in learning more about the implicit bias impacting the services provided to the youth of CT. She earned a B.A. in Psychology at Quinnipiac University and a M.A. in Religious Studies at Hartford Seminary. She is also a certified Trauma-Informed Yoga Instructor. To contact her via e-mail: yvette.cortez@ct.gov .