988 Georouting NPRM Adopted: FCC Chair Says Geolocation Requires Expert Guidance

Mental health community advocacy drove the FCC move to require georouting of calls to the 988 Lifeline, and it would be similar advocacy that would have the agency pursue 988 geolocation, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Thursday. The commissioners approved 5-0 the NPRM that would require georouting of 988 calls to the closest call center based on the caller's location. Rosenworcel said georouting protects privacy while providing a more accurate picture of the caller’s true location than relying on the caller’s area code. She said the georouting approach is based on a consensus in the mental health community. “Going forward, we are going to continue to be guided by the mental health experts,” she said. Rosenworcel added that nationwide wireless providers have made notable headway on 988 implementation since she wrote them in September, urging them to craft georouting implementation plans (see 2309280085). Prior to the vote, Ann Mazur, CEO of Rockville, Maryland-based hotline crisis operator EveryMind, spoke before the commissioners about why georouting is needed. She said providing service and references to local mental health resources is mired in “layers of complexity” due to the lack of georouting as well as relatively little knowledge about 988.