The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced this week that it has approved a new 3-digit phone number that will serve as the national suicide prevention and mental health hotline number.
In a statement, the FCC said that it started on Thursday the “process of designating 988 as a new, nationwide, 3-digit number for a suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline. This designation will help ease access to crisis services, reduce the stigma surrounding suicide and mental health conditions, and ultimately save lives.”
CNN reported that the proposal passed with a unanimous vote and that the proposal is now open for the public to comment on.
The FCC statement noted that it reported to Congress in August that its Wireline Competition Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics recommended 988 as that new 3-digit dialing code due to the fact that “the technical and operational issues associated with implementing 988 could be addressed and resolved more quickly than any consumer re-education efforts needed to repurpose an existing N11 number.”
The FCC reported that the 3-digit number “would likely make it easier for Americans in crisis to access potentially life-saving resources.”
In a statement, Chairman Ajit Pai said in part:
Indeed, the suicide rate in the United States is at its highest level since World War II. In 2017, more than 47,000 Americans died by suicide and more than 1.4 million adults attempted suicide. And this crisis is disproportionately affecting various at-risk populations. More than 20 Veterans die by suicide every day and more than half a million LGBTQ youth will attempt suicide this year alone. A shorter, simpler suicide hotline number could be a game-changer.
That’s why we’re proposing to designate an easy-to-remember 3-digit dialing code—988—for a national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline. 988 has an echo of the 911 number we all know as an emergency number. And we believe that this 3-digit number, dedicated for this purpose, will help ease access to crisis services. It’ll reduce the stigma surrounding suicide and mental health conditions. And it’ll ultimately save lives.
“Suicide is a national tragedy. More than 47,000 Americans died by suicide in 2017,” FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said in a statement. “That’s more than died from liver disease or in car accidents. More than 20 veterans commit suicide every day, as they deal with adjusting from the horror of war and finding a path in civilian life.”
FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel said in statement: “How we implement this matters. So we ask for input on the details to get this done, including just how calls will be routed and how to implement the three-digit code in areas where it is already used at the start of a seven-digit telephone number.”
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said in a statement: “Beyond today’s item, the Commission must do more to help connect Americans—particularly our most vulnerable citizens—with health care services. Quality healthcare depends on access to doctors and other providers. For many Americans, in-person visits just aren’t possible because resources are too far away, health conditions make travel difficult, or there aren’t enough providers to go around. According to the Health Resources & Services Administration, 112 million Americans live in areas with shortages of mental health providers. The situation is particularly acute for children and adolescents.”