NAMI Applauds Move to Better Route 988 Callers for Local Crisis Support

ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 25, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) applauds the new steps to ensure calls to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline are immediately connected to local resources. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that two major telecommunications carriers, Verizon and T-Mobile, will start routing cellular phone calls to 988 based on the caller's approximate location, versus by area code – known as "georouting".  This change will enable help seekers to speak to someone in their local community and be connected to local resources right away – to help them get well and stay well.

"When someone contacts 988 during a mental health crisis, they deserve to be connected with local services and support, no matter where they are in the U.S.," said Hannah Wesolowski, Chief Advocacy Officer of NAMI. "Today's announcement is a major step to realizing the full potential of 988 and a reimagined crisis system. NAMI thanks HHS and SAMHSA for their leadership in making better routing of 988 calls a reality."

Since 988 became available nationwide in July 2022, calls have been routed based on the help seeker's area code. And since 97 percent of Americans have cell phones and are frequently on the move, a help seeker's area code may not match where a person is at that moment in time. As a result, some people's calls for help are routed to a call center that is not close to their physical location. This structure presents obstacles to addressing the immediate needs of help seekers in crisis and limits the 988 Lifeline's ability to support all help seekers. While 988 crisis counselors can provide support regardless of a help seeker's location, they may not be able to connect people in crisis to follow-up care within their local community.

With today's announcement, more people who call 988 will be routed to a crisis call center nearest to their approximate location, while avoiding disclosing a caller's precise location.

NAMI has been a leading voice urging the federal government to take action to better route calls to 988 to help people in crisis, advocating with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) since December 2020. Earlier this year, NAMI led a group of over 40 national organizations calling on the FCC and HHS to take immediate action to start this process, and

NAMI continues to urge the FCC to finalize a proposal to require all wireless carriers to implement a georouting solution that routes calls but protects individual callers' information. The FCC is expected to vote on the proposal in October.

"Today, we are another step closer to giving people in crisis the help they need and deserve. We urge FCC Chairwoman Rosenworcel and the Commissioners to finalize their proposal to require all wireless carriers to georoute calls so that every caller to 988 gets connected to the local resources they need," said Wesolowski.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness is the nation's largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families affected by mental illness.

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SOURCE National Alliance on Mental Illness