The vendor required to provide 988 contact center crisis software system capable of tracking, managing, and analyzing 988 calls, chats, and texts, and to connect individuals with necessary crisis services.
- National overview of 988
• The 988 suicide and crisis lifeline is the national mental health, substance use, and suicide crisis line for the country.
• It serves as a universal line and entry point, striving to be a more responsive and specialized behavioral health crisis system.
• 988, individuals in crisis were expected to identify and call a variety of ten-digit hotlines and phone numbers without a centralized system.
• This act federally reserved 9-8-8 as the new three-digit dial code for behavioral health crises nationwide.
• The federal communications commission (FCC) followed shortly with a final ruling that required telecommunications providers to implement 988 routing by July 16, 2022.
• This system aimed at being just as easy and straightforward as dialing 911 but offered services with specialized levels of mental health support.
• The only entity authorized by administration to nationally administer the 988 suicide and crisis lifelines; the federal 988 lifeline administrator plays a unique role in the national crisis response system.
• All contacts made to 988, whether by phone, text, or chat, are routed through the federal 988 lifeline administrator infrastructure, which then guides them to state systems or backup centers.
- 988 crisis response system
• 988 contact centers are connected by the state’s telephony system, currently provided by agency.
• All 988 contact centers also maintain a contractual relationship with the federal 988 lifeline administrator.
• Hoosier calls 988, that call is sent to the national telephony system before being automatically forwarded to the state’s telephony system based on the caller’s area code.
• By October 2026, all phone carriers must transition to utilizing geo-routing to direct 988 calls to the closest local contact centers based on the geographic area associated with the origin of a 988 call rather than by area code and exchange, while protecting the privacy needs of the caller.
• This differs from geo-location, utilized by 911, which directly pinpoints a caller’s location for dispatch.
• This is not in use by the 988 lifelines.
• In the future, calls to 988 may be routed to a state based on the geo-location of the caller, similar to calls made to 911.
• State-based 988 chats and texts are not currently routed to state 988’s telephony platform.
• These interactions are handled within the federal 988 lifeline administrator’s telephony platform.
• The federal 988 lifeline administrator routes the interaction to the appropriate 988 contact center according to the visitor’s catchment area.
• The federal 988 lifeline administrator identifies the catchment area based on the visitor’s IP address for chats and geo-routing for texts.
• If the 988-contact center is unable to answer the text or chat in the allotted timeframe, the federal 988 lifeline administrator sends it to a backup center to be answered.
- Contract Period/Term: 6 years
- Pre-Proposal Conference Date: January 7, 2026
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: January 8, 2026
