OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 231 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 231’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Introduced
Primary Sponsors: Reps. Pavliga and A. Miller
Effective Date:
Reid J. Fleeson, Attorney
SUMMARY
9-8-8 Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Hotline
 Establishes a 9-8-8 Administrator within the Department of Mental Health and Addiction
Services (OhioMHAS) to oversee the administration of the 9-8-8 Suicide Prevention and
Mental Health Crisis Hotline System (9-8-8 Hotline) statewide.
 Requires the 9-8-8 Administrator to do all of the following:
 Work with local alcohol, drug addiction, and mental health services boards
(ADAMHS boards) and local jurisdictions to designate and oversee crisis centers and
mobile crisis teams;
 Collect and maintain data and submit an annual report;
 Oversee the collection and disbursement of money from the 9-8-8 Fund;
 Coordinate with the Veterans Crisis Line and with the National Suicide Prevention
Lifeline Program to ensure consistent public messaging about 9-8-8 services.
 Requires the 9-8-8 Hotline to provide crisis response and outgoing service to all callers
at no cost.
Crisis centers
 Requires the 9-8-8 Administrator, alongside the appropriate local jurisdictions, to
designate crisis centers to participate in the 9-8-8 Hotline to provide or coordinate crisis
stabilization and intervention services and crisis care coordination to individuals
accessing the 9-8-8 Hotline in Ohio.
 Requires crisis center administration and operation to be overseen by the local ADAMHS
board whose jurisdiction covers the crisis center location, in collaboration with the 9-8-8
Administrator.
August 10, 2023
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
 Requires the crisis centers to carry out various duties, including, for example, providing
crisis response and outgoing services to calls 24/7 by personnel who reflect the
demographics of the served community and are trained to serve at-risk communities
and provide follow-up services to individuals accessing the 9-8-8 Hotline.
Mobile crisis teams
 Requires a mobile crisis team to:
 Include licensed community mental health services providers, community addiction
services providers, and peer recovery supporters;
 Be designed in partnership with community members, including individuals with
lived experience using crisis response and stabilization services;
 Be staffed by personnel that reflect the demographics of the community served;
 Requires the 9-8-8 Administrator, in conjunction with the appropriate local jurisdiction,
to designate mobile crisis teams to deploy response services to the location of an
individual accessing the 9-8-8 Hotline, as appropriate.
 Requires mobile crisis team administration and operation to be overseen by the local
ADAMHS board whose jurisdiction covers the location of the mobile crisis team, in
collaboration with the 9-8-8 Administrator.
 Requires the mobile crisis team to carry out various duties, including, for example,
providing onsite, community-based intervention services, such as de-escalation and
stabilization, for individuals who are experiencing a mental health crisis.
9-8-8 Fund
 Creates the 9-8-8 Fund in the state treasury, to consist of all money from the following
sources:
 The 9-8-8 charge;
 Appropriations made by the General Assembly;
 Money awarded to the state by donation, gift, or bequest, and other money
received for purposes of the 9-8-8 Fund;
 Interest or other earnings on the 9-8-8 Fund.
 Specifies that money in the 9-8-8 Fund is not subject to transfer to any other fund or for
any other purpose than those allowed for the 9-8-8 charge, and any money remaining in
the fund at the end of each fiscal year cannot revert to the General Revenue Fund, but
must remain in the fund.
 Permits the Treasurer to disburse money from the 9-8-8 Fund only upon request of, and
in consultation with, the 9-8-8 Administrator.
P a g e |2 H.B. 231
As Introduced
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
9-8-8 charge
 Creates a monthly 9-8-8 charge of ten cents to be imposed on:
 Each subscriber of wireless service or voice over internet protocol service who has a
billing address in Ohio;
 Each wireline service customer;
 Each retail sale of a prepaid wireless calling service occurring in Ohio.
 Requires the 9-8-8 Administrator to ensure that amounts collected for the 9-1-1 system
are not used for the benefit of the 9-8-8 Hotline, and likewise that 9-8-8 charges
deposited in the 9-8-8 Fund are not used for the benefit of the 9-1-1 system.
9-8-8 Fund and 9-8-8 charge uses
 Provides that revenue generated by the 9-8-8 charge can only be used for costs that are
reasonably attributed to, and money held in the 9-8-8 Fund cannot be used for a
purpose other than, any of the purposes provided by the bill, including, for example,
ensuring the efficient and effective routing of calls made to the 9-8-8 Hotline to the
appropriate crisis center.
Annual report
 Requires, no later than one year after the bill’s effective date and annually thereafter,
the 9-8-8 Administrator to compile an annual report regarding both of the following:
 The data, specified under the bill, collected from local crisis centers on a quarterly
basis;
 Deposits and expenditures from the 9-8-8 Fund.
 Requires the 9-8-8 administrator to submit the report to all of the following:
 The General Assembly, in accordance with the law governing agency reports to the
General Assembly;
 Ohio’s congressional delegation;
 The Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Rulemaking
 Requires, no later than 90 days after the bill’s effective date, OhioMHAS to adopt rules
to develop and implement the 9-8-8 Hotline and carry out the bill’s requirements.
 Requires the rules to do all of the following:
 Establish qualifications and responsibilities for the 9-8-8 Administrator;
 Establish the scope of powers for OhioMHAS and local ADAMHS boards for
overseeing the 9-8-8 Hotline;
P a g e |3 H.B. 231
As Introduced
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
 Assign tasks to one or more new or existing agencies, boards, commissions, or other
entities to accomplish the planning required to implement and oversee the bill’s
requirements, in coordination with OhioMHAS, 9-1-1 administrators, hospital
emergency departments, and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Program;
 Establish timeframes to accomplish the bill’s requirements that are consistent with
the timeframes required by federal law and FCC rules;
 Provide for the collection and return of the 9-8-8 charge;
 Provide for the information sharing and communication between crisis and
emergency response systems to offer both (1) real-time coordination between crisis
response and outgoing services, and (2) linked, flexible services specific to crisis
response.
 Exempts rules required to be adopted by the bill from the regulatory restriction
limitation in existing law.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Background ..................................................................................................................................... 5
9-8-8 Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Hotline ........................................................... 5
Creation ....................................................................................................................................... 5
Duties........................................................................................................................................... 5
Hotline service ............................................................................................................................. 6
Crisis centers ................................................................................................................................... 6
Creation, administration, and operation of crisis centers .......................................................... 6
Crisis center duties ...................................................................................................................... 6
Mobile crisis teams ......................................................................................................................... 8
Description and requirements .................................................................................................... 8
Creation and operation of mobile crisis teams ........................................................................... 8
Mobile crisis teams duties ........................................................................................................... 9
9-8-8 Fund ....................................................................................................................................... 9
9-8-8 charge .................................................................................................................................. 10
Terms ......................................................................................................................................... 10
Charge imposed......................................................................................................................... 11
Separation from 9-1-1 charges.................................................................................................. 11
9-8-8 charge and fund uses........................................................................................................... 11
Annual report ................................................................................................................................ 12
Rulemaking.................................................................................................................................... 12
Regulatory restriction reduction exemption............................................................................. 13
P a g e |4 H.B. 231
As Introduced
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Background
The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020 codified 9-8-8 as the universal
telephone number for the National Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Hotline System
(9-8-8 Hotline), and permitted states to implement a fee or charge for 9-8-8 related services if
the fee or charge is held in a sequestered account to be obligated or expended only in support
of 9-8-8 services.1
9-8-8 Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Hotline
Creation
The bill establishes a 9-8-8 Administrator within the Department of Mental Health and
Addiction Services (OhioMHAS) to oversee the administration of the 9-8-8 Hotline statewide.2
The bill defines the following terms relating to the 9-8-8 Hotline:
 “9-8-8 Administrator” is the administrator of the 9-8-8 Hotline system.
 “9-8-8 Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Hotline” or “9-8-8 Hotline” is the
9-8-8 universal telephone number in the United States, as established under federal law,
for the National Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Crisis Hotline system operating
through the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Program.
 “National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Program” is the National Suicide Prevention
Lifeline Program maintained by the Assistant Secretary for Mental Health in the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration under federal law.3
Duties
Under the bill, the 9-8-8 Administrator must do all of the following:
 Work with local alcohol, drug addiction, and mental health services boards (ADAMHS
boards) and local jurisdictions to designate and oversee crisis centers (see below,
“Crisis centers”) and mobile crisis teams (see below, “Mobile crisis teams”);
 Collect and maintain data and submit an annual report (see below, “Annual
report”);
 Oversee the collection and disbursement of money from the 9-8-8 Fund (see below,
“9-8-8 Fund”);
1 47 United States Code (U.S.C.) 251(e)(4) and 47 U.S.C. 251a(a)(1).
2 R.C. 5119.801(A).
3 R.C. 5119.80(A), (B), and (G); 42 U.S.C. 290bb-36c and 47 U.S.C. 251(e).
P a g e |5 H.B. 231
As Introduced
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
 Coordinate with the Veterans Crisis Line, maintained by the U.S. Secretary of Veterans
Affairs under federal law, and with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Program to
ensure consistent public messaging about 9-8-8 services.4
The bill defines “local jurisdiction” as a county, municipal corporation, combination of
two or more counties, combination of two or more municipal corporations, or combination of
one or more counties and one or more municipal corporations, provided that a combination
has been established by a memorandum of understanding.5
Hotline service
The bill requires the 9-8-8 Hotline to provide crisis response and outgoing services to all
callers at no cost.6
Crisis centers
Creation, administration, and operation of crisis centers
The bill requires the 9-8-8 Administrator, in conjunction with the appropriate local
jurisdictions, to designate crisis centers to participate in the 9-8-8 Hotline to provide or
coordinate crisis stabilization and intervention services and crisis care coordination to
individuals accessing the 9-8-8 Hotline in Ohio. The local jurisdiction must ensure that all
residents within the jurisdiction have access to the services of a designated crisis center upon
accessing the 9-8-8 Hotline. The 9-8-8 Administrator must ensure that an adequate number of
crisis centers are designated so that all Ohio residents have access to a crisis center.
Crisis center administration and operation must be overseen by the local ADAMHS
board whose jurisdiction covers the crisis center location, in collaboration with the 9-8-8
Administrator.7
Crisis center duties
The bill requires a crisis center to do all of the following:
 Provide crisis response and outgoing services to calls 24 hours a day, seven days a week,
by personnel who reflect the demographics of the served community and are trained to
serve at-risk communities, including culturally and linguistically competent services for
LGBTQ, racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse communities;
4 R.C. 5119.801(B); 38 U.S.C. 1720F(h).
5 R.C. 5119.80(F).
6 R.C. 5119.8015.
7 R.C. 340.03(A)(15), 5119.80(F), and 5119.803(A) and (B). The bill includes R.C. 340.03 as that section
existed prior to its amendment by H.B. 33, 135th General Assembly. A technical amendment is necessary
to update the section in the bill.
P a g e |6 H.B. 231
As Introduced
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
 Deploy mobile crisis teams to the location of an individual accessing the 9-8-8 Hotline,
as appropriate;
 Provide follow-up services to individuals accessing the 9-8-8 Hotline;
 Utilize technology to allow real-time crisis care coordination, including text and
electronic chat, that enables information sharing and communication between crisis and
emergency response systems throughout Ohio, such as 9-1-1 and the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline Program Administrator;
