[Congressional Record Volume 172, Number 87 (Thursday, May 21, 2026)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2444-S2445]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. PADILLA (for himself, Mr. Tillis, Ms. Klobuchar, Mr. King, 
        Mrs. Shaheen, and Mr. Blumenthal):
  S. 4640. A bill to amend the Public Health Service Act to award 
grants to eligible crisis centers to provide follow-up services to 
individuals receiving suicide prevention and crisis intervention 
services, to and the Communications Act of 1934 to improve the 
accessibility of 9-8-8, and for other purposes; to the

[[Page S2445]]

Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the bipartisan 9-8-8 
Connect Act. This legislation would boost our continued efforts to 
improve access to and improve followup services through the 9-8-8 
Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
  The 9-8-8 Connect Act establishes a new grant program for eligible 
crisis centers to provide followup services to individuals receiving 
suicide prevention and crisis intervention services, including check-in 
calls, outreach to ensure engagement in services and support, 
collaboration with family and caregivers, and referral navigation. It 
also requires carriers to allow calls and texts to 9-8-8 even if the 
plan is inactive or the carrier is experiencing service interruptions 
or failures, just as they currently do for 9-1-1 calls. Furthermore, it 
requires multiline systems like hotel and office phones to support the 
direct dialing of 9-8-8 rather than requiring a caller to dial 9 or 
another number before dialing 9-8-8.
  Significant progress has been made in increasing access to quality 
mental health care in America. The 9-8-8 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline has 
been critical for supporting Americans in crisis; however, there is 
currently a lack of capacity to provide followup services for those in 
crisis.
  The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration 
emphasizes the role of connections to care following a crisis episode 
in supporting individuals who are experiencing mental health, substance 
use, or suicidal crisis towards recovery.
  The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention reports that 80 
percent of surveyed crisis line callers said that followup services 
helped save their lives. A frequent critique of 9-8-8 is that, while a 
single contact may resolve a crisis situation for many individuals, a 
lack of followup support doesn't provide callers with the necessary 
mental health resources they may need longterm.
  As awareness of 9-8-8 increases, it is critical to ensure that the 
line can quickly connect callers to a range of mental health services 
and a full continuum of care, including mobile crisis response teams.
  I would like to thank Senator Tillis for introducing this important 
legislation with me, and I look forward to working with my colleagues 
to enact the bipartisan 9-8-8 Connect Act as soon as possible.

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