The 9-8-8 Connect Act would provide follow-up services to individuals receiving suicide prevention and crisis intervention services. The bill would expand necessary follow-up services among crisis centers through check-in calls, outreach to ensure engagement, collaboration with family and caregivers, and referral navigation.
Introduce and work to pass legislation to strengthen and enhance suicide prevention efforts through the 9-8-8 Lifeline by expanding follow-up services, including check-in calls, outreach, family and caregiver collaboration, and referral navigation.
Occurrences
Evidence
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Padilla and Tillis introduced the Local 9-8-8 Response Act of 2023 to improve 988 access. The bill would route calls and texts to the geographically nearest call center instead of using area code routing, require carriers to allow 988 connections even during service interruptions, and require multi-line systems to support direct 988 dialing.
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Padilla announced that bipartisan legislation he led with Sen. Mullin was signed into law as part of a larger public-health package. The law strengthens cybersecurity protections for the 988 Lifeline, responds to past outages, requires faster vulnerability reporting, and directs a GAO study on risks in the 988 system.
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The current official press-release index shows Padilla's June 11-12, 2026 activity covering immigration, election safeguards, public health grant cuts, offshore drilling standards, USDA action, and a screwworm outbreak. In the visible current lookback window, there is no Padilla 988- or suicide-prevention-specific legislative action listed.
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GovInfo lists S. 4640 as introduced by Mr. Padilla and referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, with the full title covering grants for crisis-center follow-up services and 9-8-8 accessibility improvements.
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Padilla's office announced the 9-8-8 Connect Act and said it would expand follow-up services through check-in calls, outreach to ensure engagement, family and caregiver collaboration, and referral navigation.
Assessments
Padilla introduced the 9-8-8 Connect Act during his current Senate term, and the bill directly matches the pledge's follow-up-service components: check-in calls, outreach, family and caregiver collaboration, and referral navigation. However, the official bill record shows S. 4640 was only introduced and referred to the Senate HELP Committee, with no evidence that the follow-up-services expansion passed or was implemented. His separate enacted 988 cybersecurity bill strengthens the Lifeline in a narrower way but does not deliver the promised follow-up-services expansion. This supports partial fulfillment with clear legislative effort, not full delivery.
Padilla materially advanced 9-8-8 legislation during his current Senate term, including introducing the Local 9-8-8 Response Act in 2023 and leading a separate 988 cybersecurity bill that was signed into law in 2025. Those actions show real work to strengthen the Lifeline, but the provided evidence does not show he delivered the specific promised expansion of follow-up services such as check-in calls, outreach, family/caregiver collaboration, or referral navigation. Because he achieved narrower 988 improvements but not the pledge’s core service-expansion outcome, partial credit is the best fit.