988 Georouting Rule Proposed by Chairwoman's Office
The FCC is moving toward requiring georouting of mobile calls made to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, with Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's office Thursday circulating on the 10th floor a draft NPRM proposing a georouting rule. Mental health interests applauded the move. "This is something we've been pushing for pretty much since the law that created 988 passed" in 2020, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Chief Advocacy Officer Hannah Wesolowski told us. The text of the draft NPRM wasn't released.
“When people reach out to 988 for help, they should have confidence that the support they receive is local," Rosenworcel said. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said that while 988 is effective, "our work is not done -- not until 988 is widely known not just as the number to call to talk to a caring counselor, but to also get connected to behavioral health resources within a person’s state or territory." The FCC and HHS last fall urged the wireless industry to craft a means of 988 georouting that could be deployed nationally (see 2309280085).
Under the draft NPRM, wireless calls to the 988 Lifeline would be routed based on the caller's location, using such factors as the cell tower that originated the call rather than the area code of the handset used to place the call. The commission said the NPRM also seeks comment about the impact of georouting texts to 988.
“The wireless industry has long been at the forefront of connecting people in crisis to mental health services and is proud of its leadership role in implementing 9-8-8 as the nationwide number for people in crisis," CTIA Director-Regulatory Affairs Christiaan Segura said in a statement. "CTIA, our member companies, and other stakeholders are actively engaged in discussions about how to evaluate geo-routing solutions for 988, develop a consistent approach and identify issues that would need to be resolved prior to successful implementation.”
Some states have promoted state-specific 10-digit numbers to reach Lifeline instead of 988 to ensure those calls get answered locally and callers are referred to local resources, Wesolowski said. She said the expectation is that the FCC proposal wouldn't involve very granular information about where the caller is, such as a street, but more general locations. She said mental health interests' conversations with the FCC about georouting have been about narrowing location to the general community.
Wesolowski said there's a good chance a draft order could circulate this year. Given the strong support the regular commissioners have shown 988 in the past, the draft NPRM could see the same, she said.
Georouting advocacy has been the subject of mental health sector lobbying. Mental health and health organizations and allies this week urged the FCC and HHS to avoid waiting for congressional action. "Tragically, time is not on the side of people seeking help during a crisis," the groups said in a letter to Rosenworcel and Becerra posted Thursday in docket 18-336. "We must do better -- now," they said. Pointing to joint testing the agencies conducted in 2023 that showed the feasibility of georouting 988 calls while not sharing precise location, they said georouting protects callers' privacy while ensuring callers get services and resources in their communities. Among the more than 40 signatories were NAMI, American Mental Health Counselors Association, Children's Hospital Association and National Association of Counties.