President Donald Trump has been making headlines since taking office for his second term in January, but the newest budget cut to the suicide hotline may be one of the more harmful proposals yet. The 988 hotline provides specialized services for LGBTQ+ youth, services that have seen a sharp spike in calls since the new administration has taken office. In the newest leaked budget proposal, the president has suggested making cuts here as a way to make discretionary budget cuts to mental health.
Cuts to the Suicide Hotline Presented
A leaked document of a proposed budget was reviewed by CNN, and among the cuts was eliminating the budget for the 988 suicide hotline. According to ABC, the memo was originally dated April 10. “The preliminary memo, dated April 10, previews the administration’s possible plans to slash discretionary federal health spending and rework health agencies as President Donald Trump and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. consolidate many functions of the US Department of Health and Human Services into the Administration for a Healthy America, or AHA.”
According to the suicide prevention group The Trevor Project, if the budget passes, the suicide hotline could lose funding for LGBTQ+ youth and programming as soon as October 1. The Trevor Project has been a subcontractor for the services since 2022. The 988 number was originally signed into law by the original Trump Administration with bipartisan support. The Trevor Project is one of seven call centers that provide specialized services for LGBTQ+ youth in conjunction with the hotline.
According to a source reporting to ABC, “There have been some discussions within the Trump administration around ending the 988 Lifeline’s LGBTQ+ subnetwork, according to a person in HHS who has worked closely with the 988 Lifeline team and who asked for anonymity because they were recently given a Reduction in Force notice but hope to keep their job. ‘From what I gathered, and just talking to others, these decisions are made without input from anyone involved with the 988 team or project,’ the source said.” The 988 team would recommend against eliminating the LGBTQ+ youth program.
Suicide Hotline Cuts Would Endanger Youth
Sadly, LGBTQ+ youth have an especially high need for suicide hotline services, as they are at a four times greater rate of suicide when compared to other youth. There is an evident need for suicide prevention services among the at-risk population, something that would only further endanger these children if the program is cut. According to the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 14.5 million people have called the line and been transferred to crisis contact centers, 1.2 million of whom were LGBTQ+ youth.
Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project, released a statement about the plans:
“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. 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. We urge the Administration to maintain its long-standing commitment to ending suicide among high-risk populations, especially our nation’s young people.”
Moreover, Miriam Delphin-Rittmon, the former HHS director under Joe Biden, shared confusion over the budget and its impact on the suicide hotline subsets. “I’m concerned about SAMHSA overall. Certainly, there have been a lot of questions.” She worries that the Spanish language subset of 988 and the Veterans subset are impacted as well.
According to ABC, in regards to the suicide hotline, “The leaked memo notes that the budget would maintain the $10 million for specialized services for Spanish speakers seeking access to 988 services and eliminate the set-aside for specialized services for LGBTQ+ youth. According to the document, the budget does not include funding for the LGB Center of Excellence, the African American Behavioral Health Center of Excellence, the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Behavioral Health Center of Excellence, the Hispanic/Latino Behavioral Health Center of Excellence and the LGBTQ Youth Family Support Program.”
The suicide hotline is a major source of support for so many youth and adults struggling with suicidal thoughts and depression. Cutting the budget that allows for improved outreach will only hurt the most vulnerable people, and death rates will likely rise as a result. The budget is not yet finalized, and hopefully, there will be a bipartisan push to protect these funds and services that so many, especially our LGBTQ+ youth, need.
