Howard County sends emergency funds to crisis center facing layoffs from federal contract loss

Howard County is sending $260,000 in emergency funding to keep a nonprofit that answers calls, chats and texts to the national 988 suicide and crisis hotline afloat after the organization lost federal funding.

For the past four years, Grassroots Crisis Intervention has served as a national backup call center for the 988 suicide and crisis hotline, answering communications from people across the U.S. and its territories whose calls or messages cannot be answered locally in a timely manner.

Nonprofit officials learned last week that its $5.7 million contract for those services wasn’t renewed, leading the organization to lay off 62 people effective Sept. 29.

The funding loss also dealt a blow to Grassroots’ operating budget for its crisis center on Old Annapolis Road, where the nonprofit operates a 24-hour hotline, free walk-in crisis services, an outpatient mental health clinic, substance use treatment, a mobile crisis team, homeless services and a 24-hour food and hygiene pantry.

For years, Howard County has worked closely with Grassroots, which operates the county’s only homeless shelter. The nonprofit’s move to Old Annapolis Road in 2023 freed up space to increase the shelter’s number of beds by 75%.

County Executive Calvin Ball announced Tuesday that the emergency funds would help Grassroots cover overhead, including rent and core staff, for the coming year while the nonprofit develops a long-term stabilization plan, he said at a news conference.

“We are puzzled and surprised” by the federal contracting decision, Ball said.

Grassroots consistently maintained high metrics, answering 140,000 chats and texts nationwide over four years while consistently earning an 85% quality score each quarter, he said.

The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration renewed its contract with Vibrant Emotional Health, a New York-based nonprofit, to operate the national 988 line in March for $255 million. Vibrant works with more than 200 local crisis contact centers to operate the line, including Grassroots, but the new contract apparently ended backup services.

The federal agency, part of the Department of Health and Human Services, did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

In addition to the emergency funding, the county’s Office of Workforce Development will provide on-site and online resources for impacted employees as they reenter the job market, he said.