Discussion 988, geolocation, and coercion

[symphony]

Today I heard a rumor that the new 988 rollout will send callers' locations to 911, so I googled it. Strap in.

Here is one very good article. While it's preventionist, it does stand against coercive practices like calling the police to haul people off to a hospital.

https://disabilityvisibilityproject...lth-crisis-line-wants-to-track-your-location/

I especially appreciated this section:

988 advocates' justification for geolocation is that it is necessary to save lives. While coercive measures such as involuntary transport and involuntary inpatient hospitalization may prevent a person from killing themselves in the short term, research indicates that such practices can result in a "significant increase" in suicidality over the long term. These long-term risks of forced intervention are rarely discussed among the mental health and suicide prevention mainstream.
https://kelechiubozoh.com/
Kelechi Ubozoh, Nigerian-American mental health consultant, advocate, and writer, told me that these risks need to be discussed openly, and addressed in any crisis response. "As we consider the research in the field that people coerced during admission of psychiatric hospitalizations have an increased risk of a suicide attempt after discharge, we have to strongly question and reevaluate any new system that would replicate these results–even if it is 'better packaged.'"

Ultimately, paternalism and coercion are choices, not necessities, in crisis response.

They also link a cool research study demonstrating that coercive hospitalizations increase suicidality upon discharge. But somehow they don't talk about this stuff.

Here's a more recent article. Apparently, the Lifeline keeps on staff suicide attempt survivors, who urged them not to do this sort of shit.

In August 2020, four LEC [Lived Experience Committee] members were invited to participate in a special STPC meeting about call tracing. According to the minutes, these LEC members acknowledged the noble "goal" of the NSPL's so-called "Active Rescue" policy. However, the LEC representatives called "Active Rescue" a "euphemism" for what was usually going on—aggressive police interventions followed by forced psychiatric detentions. "While 'rescue' and keeping a person 'safe' may be the intent," the LEC representatives said, "the actual result" is often "risks to the individual," "unintended harms," and "trauma."

Indeed, the LEC members argued, when people learn about these NSPL practices, the mere possibility of such call tracing "can deter people from getting Lifeline help."

https://www.madinamerica.com/2022/01/roll-988-threatens-anonymity-crisis-hotlines/

Here is the only article I found in a more well-known publication: https://slate.com/technology/2022/04/crisis-lifelines-surveillance-geolocation-algorithms.html

According to the Lifeline's website:

The Lifeline does not currently have the capability to directly "trace" callers, chat or text users in a way the same way that 911 providers do. The Lifeline does attempt to route callers to the nearest center to them in the network using their area code to determine the most proximal center. However, this routing is imprecise because most people seek help through mobile devices and may be in a location different than their area code. In the atypical situations where emergency services must be contacted to prevent persons from seriously or fatally harming themselves, and the person is unwilling or unable to share their location information, Lifeline counselors must provide what information they have to 911 operators–the caller's/text user's phone number or the chat user's IP address–to enable them to do whatever they can to locate the individual. However, as noted, this information–phone numbers and IP addresses–is often not accurate in describing the individual's actual location, hindering both the connection of the individual in crisis to the nearest Lifeline center as well as responding to life-threatening emergencies.

So did they somewhat reverse course here, or what?

What do you all think about this all?

 

[nosurpries]

the idea is disgusting to me. punishing people for reaching out for help, great work. and pro-lifers fucking WONDER why we think their methods are bullshit. psych wards practices are inhumane. unauthorized location tracing for this purpose is unethical.

 

[StrangePossum]

Thank you for the informative post. I've been seeing tons of social media posts about 988 too, and the whole thing makes me pretty angry honestly. While I don't fundamentally disagree with the idea of a suicide hotline -- I'm sure the existing hotlines have helped many people, despite simultaneously harming many others -- and I do think having a simplified number is good, I absolutely hate the concept of nonconsensual "active rescue" and forced psychiatric detention. Nobody should be able to take away your bodily autonomy, for any reason, ever, especially not the government. Calling the cops on a suicidal person, putting them at risk of being injured or killed, and forcibly sending them to a psych ward where they'll be drugged against their will and often humiliated is not "helping" them. The study you linked showing that suicide risk often increases after a forced hospitalization is pretty damning IMO. If only these "professionals" would LISTEN to any of the evidence showing that they're harming people with these kinds of policies -- not surprised at all that they won't even listen to their own "Lived Experience Committee" on this, because why would the actual experiences of suicidal people matter, right?

It's so frustrating to see people on social media sharing information about this, saying stuff like "share to save a life!!!" while completely glossing over the possibility of forced hospitalization. People should know exactly what they're getting into when they call this number, so they can decide whether they want to take that risk. (And honestly, it's just really annoying whenever people spam suicide hotline numbers thinking they're actually helping somehow. Like, no, I don't need a fucking hotline, I need affordable housing and healthcare and a society that actually gives a shit about mentally ill and disabled people. A hotline isn't going to fix any of my problems. Obligatory disclaimer that yes, the hotline is actually useful for some people and I don't disagree with the concept, just the execution.)

Also, sidenote regarding 988 claiming they can't trace callers' locations and only use area codes -- I've spent some time looking into this, and IMO this is a bit of an irrelevant point for them to make. Yes, they themselves cannot track your location yet (if the website is to be believed) but it seems that they are easily able to forward the call to 911, who absolutely are able to track your location -- otherwise they wouldn't be able to send cops to your house. Maybe there's some part of how the system works that I don't understand, but just the fact that they can forward the call to 911 means they absolutely do have the ability to track your location, if indirectly.

Besides, even if they don't have the ability to now, it seems like the Lifeline is actively working on ways to track callers' locations. From the SAMHSA website (the government agency that's funding 988), https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/988/faqs:

Currently, the Lifeline automatically routes calls by area code to the nearest crisis center (unlike 911, which uses geolocation). As part of the 2020 Designation Act, the Federal Communications Commission submitted a report examining the feasibility and cost of including an automatic dispatchable location that would be conveyed with a 988 call. Within that report, the FCC recommended that Congress require that a multi-stakeholder group be convened to further examine the key issues and collaborate on potential next steps. The FCC held a 988 Geolocation Forum in May 2022 and the agency is actively analyzing the information gathered during that forum.

Admittedly I don't know what they discussed during their "forum", so it's possible that they'll decide implementing geolocation isn't worth it or something, but the fact that they're actively looking into its feasibility should be concerning to more people IMO.

 

[symphony]

Admittedly I don't know what they discussed during their "forum", so it's possible that they'll decide implementing geolocation isn't worth it or something, but the fact that they're actively looking into its feasibility should be concerning to more people IMO.

Woah, thanks for your contributions.

It appears the FCC forum is recorded and available on YouTube but it's 5 and a half hours and watching that whole thing sounds like one of the more painful methods of CTB...