Individuals who are contemplating suicide or suffering other kinds of emotional distress who call the 988 national hotline number may not be getting the help they need.
That’s because a technical snafu often routes their calls to health technicians out of their county, or even out of state, instead of sending their call to the nearest clinic where they can receive hands-on treatment. The flawed system cripples any kind of emergency response for a person experiencing a mental health crisis, even putting the life of the caller at risk, experts say.
The call-routing problems, which have plagued the 988 system since it began operating in July 2022, would be fixed if a bill by U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., using a new technology called geo-routing, is passed by Congress and signed into law.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors endorsed U.S. Senate Bill 3444 on Tuesday, Jan. 9, and will send a letter of support to the Senate, while pledging to fight for the bill’s passage. On Aug. 8, the board endorsed a companion bill in the House of Representatives by Rep. Tony Cardenas, D-Panorama City.
Padilla’s bipartisan bill, introduced on Dec. 7 and co-authored by Sen. Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, may have a better chance of being adopted by the Senate, but would still need approval by the House and a signature from President Joe Biden.
“This legislation will have real on the ground impacts. I’m confident the White House will weigh in on this. It needs to be fixed,” said Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger.
Under the federal 988 hotline system, cell phone calls are routed to about 200 call centers using the cell phone caller’s area code — which is often not the area code where the person lives. It can send local callers to far off centers in the East Coast, South or Midwest, instead of here in Southern California. Often, call centers can’t help the caller, or the call gets disconnected, according to testimony given on Tuesday to the…
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