Federal Communications Commission	DA 22-457



DA 22-457
Released:  April 26, 2022

FCC ANNOUNCES FORUM ON GEOLOCATION FOR 988
WC Docket No. 18-336

On Tuesday, May 24, 2022, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will convene a forum on the challenges and opportunities related to geolocation for 988, the three-digit number designated for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020 designated 988 as the universal telephone number within the United States for the purpose of the national suicide prevention and mental health crisis hotline system.  See National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020, Pub. L. No. 116-172 (National Suicide Hotline Act).
  This forum will be presented and will include state and local stakeholders, suicide prevention and mental health experts and advocates, communications industry leaders, and technical experts.  Stakeholders will present and participate on panels on a number of geolocation topics including 988 geolocation challenges, highlighting those on the front lines of suicide prevention and mental health crisis services.  The forum will also feature discussions by industry and technical experts on the technical challenges of transmitting location information with a call to 988 and possible solutions. In response to the National Suicide Hotline Act, the Wireline Competition Bureau (Bureau) submitted the Geolocation Report to Congress.  See FCC, Wireline Competition Bureau, 988 Geolocation Report – National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020 at 20 (2021), https://www.fcc.gov/document/988-geolocation-report-national-suicide-hotline-designation-act.  In the Report, the Bureau recommended convening a wide array of stakeholders to consider the complex issues involved in geolocation for 988 and work “collaboratively towards the shared objective of facilitating access to the lifesaving resources provided by the Lifeline.”  Id. at 21.
  The full agenda for the forum will be released in a subsequent public notice.  
The geolocation forum for 988 is open to the public on the Internet via live feed from the FCC’s web page at http://www.fcc.gov/live.  Open captioning will be provided for this event.  Other reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities are available upon request.  Requests for such accommodations should be submitted via e-mail to fcc504@fcc.gov or by calling the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at (202) 418-0530 (voice), (202) 418-0432 (TTY).  Such requests should include a detailed description of the accommodation needed.  In addition, please include a way for the FCC to contact the requester if more information is needed to fill the request.  Please allow at least five days’ advance notice for accommodation requests; last minute requests will be accepted, but may not be possible to accommodate.  Audience members participating may email questions for the panelists to livequestions@fcc.gov.  The forum moderators will attempt to incorporate as many email questions as possible that are relevant to the panel but may be constrained by the volume of questions and time limitations.  
For additional information about the geolocation forum for 988, please contact Jordan Reth, (202) 418-1418 or Jordan.Reth@fcc.gov, or Michelle Sclater, (202) 418-0388 or Michelle.Sclater@fcc.gov.  Press inquiries should be directed to Katie Gorscak of the FCC’s Office of Media Relations at (202) 418-2156 or Katie.Gorscak@fcc.gov.  

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