Behind the Hotline: What 988 Teaches Us About Federal Infrastructure
A Bonne Fire Spark event, in collaboration with the Partnership for Public Service
When someone calls 988, the national suicide and crisis lifeline, they are connected to judgment-free support right then and there. What they don't see is everything behind that call: the federal staff, grants, data, and coordination that make crisis response possible. Join Bonne Fire and the Partnership for Public Service for an evening on what happens when that invisible infrastructure becomes unstable, and why it matters for every community in Atlanta.
Speaker Monica Johnson, former director of the 988 & Behavioral Health Crisis Coordinating Office within the Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), will trace how federal capacity becomes local services — mobile crisis teams, crisis units, community programs — and what communities lose when it erodes.
About Monica Johnson
Nobody is better positioned to tell this story than Monica Johnson. As the first Director of SAMHSA's 988 & Behavioral Health Crisis Coordinating Office, she led the national launch of the three-digit lifeline. Before that, she served as Interim Commissioner of Georgia's Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities, part of more than a decade of state leadership here in Georgia. Now Managing Director for Behavioral Health at Health Management Associates, she brings 25+ years of experience across clinical, state, federal, and consulting roles. She is a member of the Partnership for Public Service's Speakers Bureau, which engages former federal workers to speak to the importance and impact of their public service in communities across the U.S.
About the Partnership for Public Service
The Partnership for Public Service is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to building a better government and a stronger democracy. Over the past 25 years and across five presidential administrations, we have offered government agencies and leaders crucial training and insights to better serve the public, championed legislation for effective government and shined a spotlight on the achievements of the federal workforce.
Now, building on our decades of experience, we engage the public about the value of government and how its erosion harms us all and advance reforms that seek to make our federal institutions more effective, responsive and accountable to the American people. We also strengthen leadership in federal, state and local government, help federal workers navigate an increasingly complex federal environment and provide former public servants with opportunities to shape efforts to transform government.
Schedule:
6:00 PM — Doors open (grab a drink, order some food)
6:40 PM — Welcome
6:45 PM — Monica Johnson's talk
7:15 PM — Q&A
7:30 PM — Open networking
8:00 PM — Wrap
This event is open to everyone. You don't need to work in healthcare or public health to be part of this conversation. If you live in Atlanta, these services exist for you, your family, and your neighbors, and the changes happening at the federal level affect all of us. Come learn what's at stake, meet people working on it, and bring a friend who's never thought about any of this before.
Registration is free but space is limited.