LGBTQ youth to lose 988 specialized service line

In a leaked budget draft this spring, the Trump administration indicated it was considering cuts to 988 specialized hotline services for LGBTQ+ youth

Much like 911 for emergency help, 988 was designed to be a quicker dial and has been in effect for approximately three years.

That possibility became a reality on June 18, when the administration announced it had instructed the national suicide hotline to stop offering specialized services to LGBTQ callers effective July 17.

A statement from the Department of Health and Human Services said the LGBTQ+ section had run out of Congressionally-directed funding. Continuing to fund that component would jeopardize the entire hotline, according to the DHHS.

In an NPR podcast on April 28, Hannah Wesolowski, chief advocacy officer with NAMI, said crisis services geared toward LGBTQ+ youth have proven to save lives.

“What they get with that specialized services line is they get somebody who cares,” she said. “(It’s) somebody who has been there with them, who has shared experiences, who can understand where they’re coming from.”

Following the June announcement, Wesolowski said she fears not getting “tailored, compassionate support,” will cause young people to lose trust in this resource and may make them feel unsafe when calling the main hotline in crisis.

She added that the hotline has bipartisan support in Congress. The specialized line, Wesolowski pointed out, has been contacted by nearly 1.3 million individuals seeking lifesaving care.

Advocates fear this elimination will exacerbate the mental health crisis in this population.

The Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization focused on suicide and crisis prevention for LGBTQ+ youth, noted that since its creation, 14 million crisis contacts have been made.

The organization also noted that suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people aged 10 to 14 and the third leading cause of death for those aged 15 to 24. On average, there is likely at least one attempt at suicide for these age groups every 45 seconds.

“Suicide prevention is about risk, not identity. Ending the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ+ youth specialized services will not just strip away access from millions of LGBTQ+ kids and teens—it will put their lives at risk,” said Trevor Project CEO Jaymes Black in a statement.

“These programs were implemented to address a proven, unprecedented, and ongoing mental health crisis among our nation’s young people with strong bipartisan support in Congress and signed into law by President Trump himself.”

U.S. Representative Seth Moulton (6th District, Massachusetts) co-authored the first bill that President Trump signed into law creating the 988 hotline during his first term.

Moulton, along with more than 100 Democrats opposing the cut, sent a letter to DHHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. in May, stressing the importance of the hotline.

“America has a youth mental health crisis, and LGBTQ+ youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers. The 988 hotline for LGBTQ+ youth has recently received an average of 2,100 contacts per day and, since 2022, it has received over 1.3 million calls, texts, and chats,” the letter said.

It goes on to point out that the country’s mental health crisis affects every family and community and does not recognize partisan differences.

Support for 988 and its specialized services has always been bipartisan, the authors conclude.

In 2022, New England Psychologist covered the launch of the 988 hotline. Colleen Creighton, then CEO of the American Association of Suicidology, told the publication how imperative it was to have such a hotline.

Her major concern at the time was having the resources to handle the potential volume of calls. Creighton is now senior director of Brady’s End Family Fire program, which focuses on safe storage of firearms to reduce shootings, suicide, and misuse.

Now Creighton is most concerned that pulling the plug on specialized services will leave a significant void in care.

When asked why the Trump administration would specifically target these specialized services, Creighton explained that it falls under the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) umbrella.