20160613press release.pdf

Commission adopts proposal to disburse Qwest funds
for suicide prevention hotline, E-911 dispatch training

Case No. GNR-T-16-04, Order No. 33532
Contact: Gene Fadness [phone], 890-2712

BOISE (June 13, 2016) – The Idaho Public Utilities Commission adopted a proposal of
commission staff to disburse about $90,000 remaining in a commission-maintained Qwest
Corporation compliance account to Idaho’s Suicide Prevention Hotline and to Idaho’s Police
Officer Standards and Training Academy (POST).

Qwest, the predecessor company to what is now CenturyLink, paid into the fund when it failed
to meet performance standards designed to ensure that other telecommunications providers
were allowed access to Qwest facilities to provide competitive telecommunications services.
Payments to the fund were discontinued in 2010.

Commission staff proposed that $44,900 be allocated to the Idaho Department of Health &
Welfare’s Suicide Prevention Action Network and $44,910 be allocated toward training and
certification of E-911 emergency dispatchers at POST.

The commission adopted staff’s recommendations, stating that the proposed uses of the
remaining funds were in the public interest.

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for Idahoans ages 15-34. Idaho’s overall suicide
rate is 52 percent higher than the national average and double the national average for youths
ages 10-19. To address this priority at-risk age group, the Suicide Prevention Hotline is
launching “Texts for Life,” to reach people more comfortable texting or using an on-line chat
service. While the new service will be open to all ages, the focus is on support for youths and
others who favor these technologies, including veterans. The new money will improve the
hotline’s capacity to handle several thousand text messages as well as chats and calls from
those in crisis.

The allocation to POST will pay for about four years (at about $10,000 a year) to fully develop
the certification program required for emergency dispatchers at “911” centers while other
funding solutions are identified.
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