Overview
Clear Pathways has released a new Crisis Response Brief that provides strategies for measuring 911/988 interoperability. “Measuring and Evaluating 911/988 Interoperability” is the final publication in the three-part Crisis Response Brief series. It explores Clear Pathways’ recommendations that communities can use to effectively measure and evaluate 911/988 interoperability.
Since 2022, Clear Pathways has developed and continuously refined an Interoperability Strategy that is focused on facilitating warm transfers from 911 to 988. We are supporting 911 public safety answering points (PSAPs) and 988 crisis center coordination. Through this initiative, we are working to ensure that people experiencing behavioral health crises have a path to help across Ohio and the nation.
During the Crisis Response Pilot, Clear Pathways collaborated with five Ohio sites. Each site worked to develop or expand warm transfer criteria from 911 to 988. To measure their impact, our evaluation partners at Mathematica developed metrics that these sites could use to measure interoperability. Sites reported barriers to collecting and reporting data and strategies to overcome those barriers. This valuable feedback provided key insights into implementing interoperability metrics and evaluating interoperability over time.
Recommendations for Measuring and Evaluating 911/988 Interoperability
The brief shares challenges, recommendations, and anticipated benefits for communities seeking to develop quality metrics and systems to evaluate 911/988 interoperability effectively. The key recommendations to enhance 911/988 interoperability evaluations are the following:
- Improve caller identification methodologies to ensure that behavioral health-related 911 calls are accurately coded and analyzed.
- Expand understanding of interoperability by analyzing caller demographics and what occurs during 911 behavioral health calls and call transfers.
- Enhance technology offerings available to 988 crisis centers to streamline data capture, reporting, and continuous quality improvement.
- Develop data-sharing strategies and agreements to link data across systems and evaluate care coordination.
The publication is a valuable resource for local 988 and PSAP administrators and community leaders working to measure and evaluate 988 integration into established emergency response systems. The brief provides practical guidance for implementing these recommendations within existing emergency response frameworks and developing sustainable evaluation processes.
The Crisis Response Brief Series and Evaluation
The Crisis Response Briefs provide a multi-faceted look at developing, scaling, measuring, and evaluating 911/988 interoperability. Together, they provide a comprehensive overview of our lessons learned throughout the Crisis Response Pilot.
The first brief explains the Clear Pathways Interoperability Strategy and presents key recommendations for its improvement. The second brief provides strategies for bringing 911/988 interoperability to scale. The third brief discusses performance measurement and 911/988 interoperability evaluation.
Our partners at Mathematica have measured the progress sites have made in establishing 911/988 interoperability during the pilot period and helped sites identify and implement common metrics for quantifying 911/988 call transfers. Mathematica will release the full evaluation of the Crisis Response Pilot in late September.
Related Lunch & Learn
The third brief was discussed in detail at the Clear Pathways Lunch and Learn, “Measuring Progress: Data Collection and Evaluation for 911/988 Interoperability,” held on August 29, 2025. This session focused on evaluating 911-988 interoperability and using metrics to support continuous quality improvement among the partners.
Take Action
We encourage 911 and 988 system administrators, community leaders, and emergency response coordinators to download this brief and integrate these measurement recommendations into their interoperability planning and evaluation processes. These evidence-based strategies can help communities build clearer pathways for individuals experiencing behavioral health crises.
If you have questions about implementing these recommendations or would like to learn more about Clear Pathways’ work, email us at clearpathways@pegsfoundation.org.
