988! Soon to Be Even Closer to You

A little over 2 years ago, the national suicide and crisis helpline 988 was rolled out. The easy to remember number was a significant improvement over the difficult to remember 1-800 number that existed before 988 came out. Yet one of its major drawbacks was that it routed calls based on area code. In the modern mobile world, many people have cell phone numbers from somewhere different from where they live now. Now that is starting to change.

Earlier this year, the FCC considered a change to allow for the georouting of 988 calls. For those who might not know, georouting does not offer an exact location, the way a 911 call for example would. On the contrary it looks at what cell tower routed the call, allowing for a general location of the caller.

This was widely supported by mental health advocates, including those of us here at the LegalMind Society. Along with other mental health advocates, we submitted public comments strongly supporting this change. And just this week we started to see action.

The process of allowing georouting for 988 calls started this week when the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services announced that two major cell phone carriers, Verizon and T-Mobile, would start georouting calls. This is an important step because it allows callers to be connected with local resources, which can be essential to those in need. The LegalMind Society applauds this change.

If you are currently experiencing suicidal ideation, or are otherwise feeling stressed or in crisis because of your mental health, know that help is available. You can call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis hotline 24/7 if you need it.