This underhanded grab at these lines is taking place after two years of private communication and months of public debate ending with
a commitment from SAMHSA to review and pay 1-800 SUICIDE's claim on August 25th, 2006. Help us by commenting to the FCC to not allow HHS/SAMHSA to change
the laws in order to hostilely take over our phone lines!
TELL THE FCC TO DENY SAMHSA & HHS ATTEMPT TO PULL THE SUICIDE HOTLINES!
Write the FCC
9300 East Hampton Drive, Capitol Heights, MD 20743
Refer to Case Docket 07-271
Or comment online by following these steps:
- Login into http://gullfoss2.fcc.gov/prod/ecfs/upload_v2.cgi
- Type case number 07-271
- Fill in all the necessary information
- Send in comment
- Comment can be brief (see bottom of form)
Here is a sample letter:
I am writing in support of KBHC/1-800-SUICIDE and encourage the FCC to not simply transfer the lines at a request of another government agency. Please recognize that HHS/SAMHSA have been working at trying to suffocate 1-800-SUICIDE because they created a competing hotline.
Why does the government want private confidential caller information? Please protect the callers identity and realize that HHS/SAMHSA have not paid KBHC money that Congress appropriated for no real reason. Instead they are going to the FCC to try and get a rule changed to hostilely take the lines over anyway.
Do not let that private phone companies like Patriot and McLeod work with HHS/SAMHSA to break the rules and work against this nonprofit and the public good!
Additional Information:
THERE IS NO EMERGENCY AND THE REQUEST SHOULD BE DENIED.
The “emergency” which underlies the SAMHSA request is totally contrived and can be easily alleviated by swift enforcement of FCC rules.
The only emergency is that Patriot Communications, the telecom carrier that currently services the KBHC numbers, has claimed that it controls the numbers and has threatened to terminate service to them if KBHC does not agree to allow Patriot to keep the numbers before January 9, 2007.
Patriot is able to make this threat because another carrier – McLeod USA – is working with Patriot to seize the numbers and prevent KBHC from moving them to another telecom provider. The “emergency” then is that Patriot and McLeod have seized KBHC’s numbers in violation of FCC rules and are threatening to turn the numbers off if KBHC refuses to acquiesce in this unlawful seizure.
Why has Patriot done this? Because it wants to transfer five of the numbers to SAMHSA. SAMHSA wants to control five of the numbers operated by KBHC for the past 8 years, and Patriot wants to seize them and transfer them to SAMHSA.
SAMHSA’s request to the FCC did not mention KBHC or the fact that the numbers have been operated by KBHC for nearly 8 years. Nor did it mention that the “emergency” is entirely based on unlawful threats by Patriot, with whom SAMHSA is working.
THE PROPER RESOLUTION IS FOR THE FCC TO ORDER MCLEOD USA TO RELEASE KBHC’S NUMBERS IMMEDIATELY AND ALLOW KBHC TO MOVE THEM TO ANOTHER TELECOM PROVIDER. This will allow service to continue. There will be no cessation of service after such a transfer.
KBHC will be able to keep all the numbers going indefinitely without any participation by SAMHSA. KBHC will work with SAMHSA to ensure that SAMHSA’s concerns about the numbers are addressed.
But KBHC cannot work with SAMHSA while it is under threat to have its numbers stolen by Patriot or service terminated in 3 weeks. The FCC should act swiftly to direct Patriot and McLeod USA to end their seizure of KBHC’s numbers.
For more information visit:
HHS Letter To FCC
SAMHSA Letter To FCC