HR713: HR713 Healthcare providers; help promote 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline; urge

This resolution addresses how Georgians learn about the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, a national three-digit number separate from 911 that connects callers to suicide prevention and mental health crisis help. In Georgia, 988 calls, texts, and chats are answered around the clock by the Georgia Crisis and Access Line (GCAL). The resolution does not create any new law or requirement. It urges healthcare providers across Georgia to add information about 988 to the recorded messages patients and callers hear, since many providers already use such recordings to share guidance, including when to call 911. It also urges the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to work with community partners to write a sample script providers could use for this purpose. Copies of the resolution are to be shared with that department, the public, and the press.

• Urges healthcare providers in Georgia to include information about the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in recorded phone messages for patients and callers.
• Urges the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to work with community partners to draft a script providers can use for these recordings.
• Directs the Clerk of the House of Representatives to distribute copies of the resolution to the department, the public, and the press.
• Does not create any new legal requirement, funding, or penalty; it is a statement of encouragement rather than a binding mandate.

Healthcare providers in Georgia who use recorded phone messages for patients and callers, the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities and its community partners, and Georgians who may call or text the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or the Georgia Crisis and Access Line (GCAL) for mental health or suicide crisis support.

If healthcare providers act on this urging, more Georgians calling their doctor's office or a clinic could hear about the 988 crisis line, potentially connecting people in a mental health crisis to help faster. Because the resolution carries no penalty or funding, its real-world effect depends entirely on voluntary action by providers and the state department.

• Recites that 988 was established as a national three-digit number for suicide prevention and mental health crisis resources, distinct from 911's public safety role.
• Notes that 988 contacts in Georgia are answered by the Georgia Crisis and Access Line (GCAL) 24 hours a day, year-round.
• First resolving clause urges Georgia healthcare providers to include 988 information in recorded messages given to patients and callers.
• Second resolving clause urges the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to develop, with community partners, a script providers can use to mention 988.
• Final clause directs the Clerk of the House to distribute copies of the resolution to the department, the public, and the press.

1. 2026-03-31House Passed/Adopted (House)
2. 2026-03-31House Third Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-11House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
4. 2025-03-28House Second Readers (House)
5. 2025-03-27House First Readers (House)
6. 2025-03-25House Hopper (House)

• Will Wade (R, HD-009)Primary sponsor
• Deborah Silcox (R, HD-053)
• Rob Clifton (R, HD-131)
• Inga Willis (D, HD-055)
• Johnny Chastain (R, HD-007)
• Omari Crawford (D, HD-089)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 31, 2026

   167 yea, 0 nay (1 not voting, 8 absent)

   Adopt: House Vote #822

• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
• mental health
• healthcare providers
• behavioral health
• suicide prevention