Federal LGBTQ+ Youth Hotline Could Relaunch Without Its Primary Advocate

The Trevor Project, which handled roughly half of the crisis prevention hotline’s traffic, may be ineligible to manage it again.

crisis hotline

Congress instructed the Department of Health and Human Services to restore the specialized hotline after allocating $33.1 million to fund the service — but only active 988 network members can apply to field calls for the renewed service. Jenny Kane/AP

The Trump administration will restore a crisis prevention hotline for LGBTQ+ youth later this year, potentially without involving the leading organization that handled roughly half of its operations.

The Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization that provides suicide and crisis prevention to LGBTQ+ youth, may be ineligible to manage the hotline after being removed from the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline network — a collection of more than 200 local and regional contact centers across the country that are certified to answer mental health crisis calls. Callers could use the “Press 3 option” to access LGBTQ-centered resources, but the Trevor Project lost its active network status after the administration shuttered the only service it provided last June.

Six other crisis centers that also worked on the program remain active because they also work with the general population.