9–8–8 Connect Act

The "9-8-8 Connect Act" aims to enhance suicide prevention and mental health crisis intervention services by establishing a new grant program. This program, administered by the Secretary through the Assistant Secretary, will award grants to eligible crisis centers that are part of the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline network. These grants are specifically for providing follow-up services to individuals who contact 9-8-8 and are identified as being at risk of suicide or experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis. The bill outlines that these follow-up services may include check-ins, outreach, collaboration with family, and referrals, but critically, they require informed consent from the individual. Crisis centers must clearly disclose the nature, scope, and duration of services, and individuals retain the right to decline or withdraw consent at any time. Strict privacy protections are mandated, prohibiting the sharing of personally identifiable information with third parties without express, written consent, except as required by law, and ensuring no involuntary or coercive interventions occur without imminent risk. Furthermore, the legislation seeks to improve the accessibility of the 9-8-8 Lifeline. It directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to promulgate regulations requiring commercial mobile service providers to transmit all calls and text messages made to 9-8-8, including those from non-service-initialized handsets. The bill also amends the Communications Act of 1934 to extend existing requirements for direct dialing of 9-1-1 from multi-line telephone systems to also include 9-8-8, ensuring easier access to crisis services.