988 Seen Having Years to Go Before it Has 911-Like Recognition
Implementing proposed 988 outage reporting requirements shouldn't be very onerous, Jonathan Gilad, National Emergency Number Association government affairs director, told us, predicting 4-0 approval of the draft order on the FCC's agenda (see 2306290056). CTIA didn't comment, and there hasn't been lobbying on the docket 23-5 draft order. It will take years of 988 promotion and use before the Lifeline has the kind of recognition and automatic use that 911 does, speakers said Thursday at an event sponsored in Washington by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) marking a year since 988's official rollout. "‘911 didn't start off with instant success either; it takes a while," said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. HHS said Thursday it's adding Spanish-language text and chat services to Lifeline.
Gilad said next-generation 911 architecture allows interface with other emergency numbers, and the hope is 988 would be directed in a similar interoperability direction. Such interoperability would allow geolocation of calls, he said.
NAMI also hopes for movement toward relocation and georouting of 988 calls, Director-Justice Policy and Initiatives Shannon Scully told us. The organization lobbied the FCC on such capabilities repeatedly (see 2301180030). The agency needs to convene a stakeholder group to dig in on the need for geolocation and georouting, while addressing privacy issues, Scully said. There can't be a state-by-state approach on data privacy, but consistent data collection, management and distribution guidelines are needed, she said.
Asked about geolocation of 988 calls, an FCC spokesperson emailed, "We continue to work closely" on this with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the Department of Veterans Affairs: "We hope to announce soon additional efforts with stakeholders that would explore technical solutions on this issue.”
Numerous speakers at the event said 988 should become part of the lexicon the way 911 is, and that needs to be accompanied by improved responses to mental health crises. Lifeline call volume is up about 40% from a year ago, said Hannah Wesolowski, NAMI chief advocacy officer. But there should be a consistent response to 988 calls because it's currently hard to tell people what to expect, she said.
Responses to 988 calls and messages are also a work in progress. While 988 calls generally are being answered within 10 seconds, answers for texts and chats are generally not as prompt, said Adrienne Breidenstine, vice president-policy and communications, Behavioral Health System Baltimore, which oversees a set of Lifeline call centers in Maryland. “We are not there yet.”
Washington state's institution of a fee to fund 988 services there generates about $50 million a year, and the increased call center staffing resulted in better response times to calls and the launch of a 988 tribal line, said state Rep. Tina Orwall (D) at the NAMI-sponsored event. She said Washington is collocating some 988 staff at 911 centers in the hope that it results in more calls made to 911 being transferred to 988. She said many calls to 911 might be more effectively dealt with by mental health professionals than law enforcement.