988 Suicide Hotline NPRM to Be on December Agenda
The Dec. 12 FCC agenda will include an NPRM on designating 988 as a national three-digit suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline. A draft NPRM announced Tuesday tees up several issues, including network configurations, Chairman Ajit Pai said after a National Council for Behavioral Health event. Asked how soon the commissioners might have a draft order before them, he said he couldn't guess how long it might take to assess what comes up in the public comments, but 988 "is a special priority for me." An item on 5.9 GHz band sharing is also expected for December (see 1911190066).
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"Suicide is preventable," and if assistance is easier to seek, "many will do so," Pai said. "988 could be the number that makes all the difference." The Wireline Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics recommended 988 to Congress for the hotline, rejecting its North American Numbering Council's recommendation to expand 211's use to include the hotline (see 1908150008).
Pai said he hopes the NPRM will get similar bipartisan backing as the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act (HR-4194) has (see 1908200070). A staffer to co-sponsor Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., said the bill has more than 100 co-sponsors. An FCC official told us it's too early to say if the item, which was circulated Tuesday among commissioners, would get 5-0 support.
Pai said 988 could be up and running faster than other three-digit numbers, and it has "an echo" of 911 that helps make it memorable. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., sponsor of companion Senate legislation (S-2661), said 911 "is emblazoned in our minds" and having shorter hotline number than the 10-digit 800-273-8255 is "critically important." Veterans Affairs' Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Executive Director David Carroll said 988 is expected to lead to more hotline calls, and that in turn could mean a wider continuum of services being offered, such as expansion of the chat and text systems the VA now offers veterans.
The increased need for call center capacity due to more calls will need to be met with congressional and nonprofit agency support, Pai said. He said he could foresee also using the bully pulpit of the chairman's office to urge adequate funding.
988 could be "a monumental shift" in dealing with rising suicide rates, said Trevor Project Advocacy and Government Affairs head Sam Brinton. He said the hotline system needs to have capabilities to route calls to appropriate specialized services when necessary, such as calls from LGBTQ callers.
"The creation of a three-digit national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline is an idea whose time has come," USTelecom said, adding it's "ready and eager to work closely with government, healthcare and community organizations everywhere to advance effective and durable solutions to this national challenge."