Colorado still struggling with 988 crisis hotline

Two years after the debut of the 988 national suicide hotline , Colorado is still struggling to meet the demand.

Why it matters: A quicker, more seamless crisis response is needed to meet the nation's worsening mental health crisis .

Driving the news: Just 78% of the calls in Colorado are being answered by a counselor on average, making it the 10th lowest rate in the nation and putting it well below the national rate of 88%, an Axios analysis finds.

• In May, that dipped to 73%.

The latest: Colorado is hiring a new operator for its crisis line. Arizona-based Solari Crisis and Human Services is taking the duties in two months after it hires a local workforce, the Denver Post reports .

• The Polis administration dropped Rocky Mountain Crisis Partners when its contract came up for renewal but didn't offer an explanation.

Between the lines: Solari operates Arizona's crisis line which posted a better answer rate at 90%. Arizona has honed its mental health crisis response system for years, putting it in a different league than other states.

The bottom line: Just looking at response rates doesn't give the full picture of how well a state has implemented 988, but it's an indicator of whether a state's call center has adequate resources, said Angela Kimball, chief advocacy officer at Inseparable, a mental health advocacy group.

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