FCC to vote on georouting for suicide and crisis lifeline calls

Several major U.S. wireless carriers have begun using technology to connect those calling into the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline with local crisis contact centers — an effort the Federal Communications Commission hopes to codify for all providers during its annual meeting next month. 

The FCC launched the streamlined three-digit crisis line in July 2022, which allows help-seekers to call, text or chat. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which funds the 988 lifeline, said that counselors have answered more than 10 million messages from individuals through the program’s first two years. 

To better connect those in crisis with local resources and support, the FCC and the Department of Health and Human Services announced on Wednesday that they have begun to route 988 phone calls to contact centers based on callers’ locations instead of their area codes — a process known as “georouting.”

Georouting does not identify the specific location of a caller, but rather uses the cell phone tower that connected the call to identify their approximate whereabouts. 

The agencies said the move would help ensure “that callers on a cell phone can be connected more locally to centers that are better equipped to provide nearby resources and services.”

During a Tuesday press call discussing the effort, a senior administration official said that T-Mobile and Verizon have already begun georouting calls to the 988 lifeline and that the agencies anticipate that AT&T will begin doing so “in the next month or so.”

FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel announced on the same call that she is moving “to codify this effort” during the agency’s Oct. 17 open meeting by holding a vote on final rules that would require all U.S. wireless carriers to implement georouting for the 988 lifeline.

“That means no more 988 calls and messages will be needlessly sent to crisis centers hundreds of miles away,” Rosenworcel said about the rules. “Instead, if you contact 988, you can count on being connected with resources that are in your own backyard, and you can speak to someone in the community from where you're calling.”

She added that “I have every expectation” that the rules will be adopted.

The implementation of the national crisis lifeline also proved to be a significant benefit to the Department of Veterans Affairs, which made its Veterans Crisis Line more user-friendly by implementing a “988 then press 1” streamlined call option after the three-digit number became operational. 

VA announced in July that it saw a 22.7% increase in calls per day to its crisis line since it adopted the 988 + 1 call option in July 2022.

During a congressional hearing earlier this month, Matthew Miller — the executive director of VA’s office of suicide prevention — said the use of georouting would also aid the department by helping “link callers to more localized and the most localized crisis call centers and, in turn, resources to address their needs within the VA.”