North Charlotte Today

Senator Tillis, founder and co-chair of the bipartisan Senate Mental Health Caucus, has expressed support for the recent announcement by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to start implementing geo-routing for incoming calls to the 9-8-8 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline Network.

“From the creation of the 9-8-8 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline to historic mental health investments included in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, we have made substantial progress in recent years in expanding access to quality mental health care,” said Senator Tillis. “This new geo-routing policy furthers that goal by ensuring those experiencing a mental health crisis receive rapid and localized care when calling the Lifeline.”

Currently, calls to the 9-8-8 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline are routed by area code rather than by the caller’s location. This system often results in callers being connected to centers that cannot link them with local mental health resources. Geo-routing will connect callers to crisis call centers and resources closest to their physical location, improving crisis care effectiveness and ensuring timely, appropriate, and equitable access to services. Importantly, geo-routing does not provide a precise location of the caller and allows callers to maintain their location privacy. Studies indicate that after speaking with a trained crisis counselor, most callers feel more hopeful and less depressed, suicidal, or overwhelmed.

In North Carolina alone, over 112,000 calls, texts, and chats were received by the 9-8-8 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline over the past year. The average response time was 14.2 seconds with a 98% answer rate. Furthermore, 90% of North Carolinians who contacted the hotline with thoughts of suicide reported feeling better by the end of their call.

In December 2023, Senator Tillis introduced the Local 9-8-8 Response Act of 2023. This legislation aims to expedite connecting callers with their nearest call center so they can receive appropriate care from mental health professionals as quickly as possible while protecting user privacy.

In March 2024, Senator Tillis joined Senator Padilla, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, and Federal Communication Commission (FCC) Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel in announcing that the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). This NPRM addresses discrepancies in the current system by proposing a rule requiring geo-routing for all wireless calls to the 9-8-8 Lifeline while balancing individual privacy needs during crises. The FCC is expected to vote on final rules regarding geo-routing on October 17.

If adopted next month, these new rules would require all U.S. wireless carriers to implement geo-routing. Additionally, an implementation timeline will be established: nationwide wireless providers must comply within 30 days following the rule's effective date; smaller non-nationwide providers have up to 24 months after this date.

A one-page summary of this bill is available HERE. Full text of this bill is available HERE.

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