211 Helpline Center

A postcard and agenda on display at the South Dakota Suicide Prevention Conference, held Aug. 10-11, 2023, in Sioux Falls. (John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight)

‘Rethinking Suicide’: Expert urges South Dakota audience to challenge assumptions

BY: - August 10, 2023

SIOUX FALLS — The Centers for Disease Control says up to 45% of the people who kill themselves had no history of mental illness. Psychiatrists and psychologists think 90% of them have such a history. The disconnect between the two figures is one reason health care professionals need to look beyond their assumptions if they […]

Southeastern Behavioral Health's downtown Sioux Falls facility, pictured on Nov. 25, 2022. Southeastern is the partner for the mobile crisis team, whose counselors assist law enforcement with certain mental health calls.

Declining use of mobile crisis team is good and bad news for Sioux Falls area

BY: - November 25, 2022

Just over a decade ago, police in Sioux Falls began a partnership with Southeastern Behavioral Health that allowed counselors to take over for officers during mental health crisis calls. The goal of that mobile crisis team (MCT) was to de-escalate situations where a caller had expressed thoughts of suicide or self-harm by working through the […]

A sigh shows the Sioux Falls, SD location of the Helpline Center, one of three call centers across the state that connects callers to a range of services.

Calls to 211 Helpline Center rising again after post-pandemic lull

BY: - November 11, 2022

Mental health calls to South Dakota’s 211 Helpline declined as the COVID-19 pandemic tapered off, but calls for all needs – especially for housing help – are on the rise again. That was among the major takeaways from a Department of Social Services (DSS) presentation on the operations of the statewide assistance call center on […]