988 Call Centers Were 'Waiting Years' for 988 Georouting

Local and regional crisis call centers around the U.S. are bullish on the FCC's move toward requiring georouting of wireless calls made to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline to the call center nearest the caller. The commissioners will vote on a draft NPRM at their April 25 open meeting that proposes requiring 988 calls be routed to a call center nearest to where the caller is (see 2404030051). The FCC, as well as Health and Human Services, have pushed for georouting of mobile 988 calls (see 2309280085).

"We're really excited for this and frankly have been waiting for it for years," said Rachel Lucynski, director-Community Crisis Intervention & Support Services at Utah's Huntsman Mental Health Institute. The lack of georouting is "a huge pain point for our center" and others around the U.S., she said. Call centers are receiving calls daily that should be routed to some other area code or state, she added.

The sole 988 affiliate for Utah, Huntsman's call center receives any call in the state from one of Utah's three area codes, Lucynski said. People who move often don't change their mobile numbers and thus could have a Utah area code while living in some other state, she said. That makes connecting a caller with localized resources a particular challenge, she said. Accordingly, Huntsman staffers have become "experts at Googling" centers around the U.S. and coordinating. The Utah center receives about 8,000 calls each month -- about 30% via 988 and the rest via the state's legacy crisis number, Lucynski said. 988's share of calls has been growing, she said.

Georouting of 988 calls would balance the need between having people receive information about localized services and while maintaining their anonymity, said Geneva Robinson, director of Kentucky's Seven Counties Services' crisis and information center. Geolocation of calls, with call centers having more granular data about the caller such as the address from which the call is coming, could dissuade callers, she said.

Between July 1, 2023, and the end of March, Seven Counties' call center received nearly 500 calls that should have gone to another call center -- slightly less than 10% of its overall volume, Robinson said. Those calls are still handled by Seven Counties staff, at least initially, Robinson said. "We don't want to hand them off or make them feel like they're being handed off" at the offset, she said about callers. Once it's ascertained the caller is not at imminent risk, the center then might recommend a crisis line or community mental health center closer to the caller, she said.

While people in Virginia can connect to resources through 988, if they have a non-Virginia number, they’re not reaching those public services, emailed Joe Getch, CEO of Northern Virginia’s HopeLink Behavioral Health.

Lifeline administrator Vibrant emailed call centers earlier this month, saying Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is working with carriers "to set up testing paths and test new solutions" and that "initial activation is scheduled for the end of the summer with some larger phone carriers," according to a copy of the message that a 988 call center provided to us. In that message, Vibrant said some of the centers could see an increase in call volume when georouting is in place. Vibrant didn't comment.

Beyond wireless calls to 988, the draft NPRM asks about whether the current method of routing calls by area code creates problems for callers using other technologies, such as VoIP and whether georouting could resolve those. The NPRM also seeks comment on challenges to implementing georouting for texts to 988.