9–8–8 Connect Act

Key Points

• The bill creates a $30 million grant program for crisis centers in the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline network to provide follow-up care to people who contact the lifeline by call, text, or chat and are identified as at risk of suicide or experiencing a mental health or substance use crisis.
• Follow-up services can include wellness check-ins, outreach to keep people connected with care, coordination with family and caregivers, and referrals to appropriate levels of care. All follow-up requires the person's informed consent, which they can withdraw at any time.
• Strict privacy protections prevent crisis centers from sharing personal information with outside parties without written, revocable consent. Centers must also ensure follow-up does not lead to involuntary or coercive interventions unless there is imminent risk.
• Phone companies would be required to connect all 9-8-8 calls and texts, including those from phones without an active service plan. This ensures anyone with a working cell phone can reach the crisis lifeline during a mental health emergency.
• Multi-line phone systems in places like offices and hotels would need to allow direct dialing of 9-8-8, just like they already must for 9-1-1. Older systems that cannot be updated without hardware or software changes are exempt.