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Jeffrey Krauss writes in Broadway Technology website CED that, "On December 12, 2006, the head of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, filed an emergency petition at the FCC. It seems that the organization that was using three toll-free phone numbers – 1-800-SUICIDE, 1-888-SUICIDE and 1-877-SUICIDA – had fallen behind in paying its phone bills. That organization, the Kristin Brooks Hope Center (KBHC), operates a suicide prevention hotline service. It routes callers to trained crisis counselors. The suicide hotlines are actually routing callers to hundreds of local suicide prevention organizations, based on the caller’s phone number. Non-profit KBHC began using these toll-free numbers eight or nine years ago, and obtained a trademark for 1- 800-SUICIDE in 2003. As a non-profit organization, fundraising was an essential task for KBHC, and these toll-free numbers featured prominently in the fundraising material. Previously, KBHC had received funding from SAMHSA, which ended in 2004. Meanwhile, SAMHSA set up a competing suicide hotline, 1- 800-273-TALK." To be clear, from Krauss' characterization above, the original 1- 800- SUICIDE hotline was operating as a shared use service, and receiving funding from government agency SAMHSA. This government agency liked what it saw and decided to compete instead with 1-800-SUICIDE. Krauss continues, "KBHC [also] received funding from the National Mental Health Association, but that funding ended in 2006. At some point in 2006, KBHC fell behind in paying its phone bills, owing $41,000 at the beginning of August. In August 2006, the Secretary of Health and Human Services sent a letter to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin, alerting the FCC that the toll-free numbers might be disconnected and, if that were to happen, asking the FCC to reassign the numbers to SAMHSA. He said that if the 1-800-SUICIDE number were disconnected, unanswered calls would pose a risk to callers in crisis. Without KBHC’s permission, the telephone carrier offering the toll-free service somehow took control of the numbers and might have threatened to disconnect them, although this is disputed. In late August, the carrier, now controlling the numbers, reached agreement with SAMHSA for SAMHSA to operate 1-800-SUICIDE. [Whatever happened to numbers returning to spare for first-come-first-serve? ] KBHC filed a complaint against the carrier at the FCC, and the carrier sued KBHC for breach of contract. On December 12, SAMHSA filed an emergency petition with the FCC, asking that the numbers be reassigned to SAMHSA. SAMHSA claimed that the total call volume for the toll-free lines was approximately 30,000 per month, each one potentially representing a caller in crisis. It did not disclose the call volume of its competing hotline 1-800- 273-TALK." Krauss writes that the very same day (!), the FCC issued a public notice calling for comments on the petition, with comments due in eight days. Read the complete article here: http://www.cedmagazine.com/Article-Capital-Currents-060108.aspx Opinions expressed above are those of the Source, and not necessarily those of ICB Toll Free News. Absolutely all content and code on this website is © copyright 2005 ICB Inc. |
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