LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Later this summer, the main suicide prevention and mental health hotline in the U.S. will become a three-digit number: 9-8-8.
The move is the result of legislation Congress approved in 2020 in the wake of a Federal Communications Commission action, but individual states must determine how to fund the new system locally and ensure it’s reaching people in need.
A bill filed this week in the state legislature seeks to prepare Kentucky for the change, creating a fee on cellphone users to pay for the new line and establishing a state board to oversee it. A recurring fee — 70 cents for each phone billing cycle — would be the same amount lawmakers previously approved for the state’s 9-1-1 service.
“Less than $10 a year, per line, will provide that mental health safety net for people across Kentucky,” said Megan Cole, director of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s Kentucky chapter.
The state’s eight community health centers now answer calls to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, 1-800-273-TALK (8255). In the Louisville area, Seven Counties Services handles those calls.
Cole said the 9-8-8 service is expected to increase call volumes by at least 30% after the transition to the new number starts in July. As a result, she said, it’s important that call operators aren’t overwhelmed.
“We already saw calls increase to the line throughout the pandemic,” she said. “And not only the calls increased, but the intensity of the calls increased significantly.”
The cellphone fees in House Bill 373 would go into a “crisis fund,” which also would collect 70 cents on phone sales, prepaid phones, calling cards and other purchases. The fund would house other monies, such as appropriations from the General Assembly and grants.
A fiscal note showing how much revenue the fees could generate hasn’t been filed yet. The measure was introduced Wednesday and has not yet been assigned to a committee.
Even now, Seven Counties doesn’t have funding to help everyone who calls the local hotline, said Geneva Robinson, director of the agency’s Crisis and Information Center. The federal action establishing the 9-8-8 number amounts to an “unfunded mandate,” she said, making the fees in HB 373 critical.
“Without this, I really worry very much that we will be encouraging folks who are deeply in need of our services to reach out, but when they call, they won't be able to in a timely manner actually get the help they need, which may actually have a very negative impact,” Robinson said.
The bill is sponsored by Republican state Rep. Kim Banta of Fort Mitchell, and Democratic Reps. Joni Jenkins of Shively; Mary Lou Marzian of Louisville; Rachel Roberts of Newport; and Lisa Willner of Louisville.
Banta said Friday that she’s not spoken to a single mental health provider who is not overwhelmed with calls.
“This is just a way to make it so somebody can call someone who knows us here and can be referred to services wherever you live,” she said. “And that is vital.”
Asked about the legislation’s chances, she said: “I don't know why we would fight this. This is so important to the commonwealth.”
The bill also requires the state’s hotline operators to have mobile teams that can travel in their communities when needed. Marcie Timmerman, executive director of Mental Health America of Kentucky, said calls are more effective when answered in the state and people can connect with local resources.
“Call increases in our state are expected to continue to grow,” she said in a news release. “We must plan now for sustainable funding to assure a sufficient workforce to answer these calls from Kentuckians.”
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