AILSA CHANG, HOST:
Today is the birthday of 988. That's the country's Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. In three years, it has fielded more than 16 million texts, chats and calls, and demand is growing as more people become aware of it. But starting tomorrow, the Trump administration will end a unique service that 988 has provided - suicide prevention for LGBTQ youth. NPR health correspondent Rhitu Chatterjee has more. Hi, Rhitu.
RHITU CHATTERJEE, BYLINE: Hey, Ailsa.
CHANG: OK, so anyone can call or text 988 to be connected to a mental health counselor, of course. But can you talk more about what specialized services the hotline provides to LGBTQ youth specifically?
CHATTERJEE: Yeah. So anyone who identifies as an LGBTQ young person can press the number 3 when they call or text 988 and be connected to a counselor who's specifically trained to respond to the unique mental health needs of this group. And, you know, gay and trans youth are at a higher risk of mental health problems. They're four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers, according to government data. And the service of 988 is similar to the services provided for veterans, who are also at higher risk of suicide. And veterans, you know, can press 1 after contacting 988 to connect to specialized support.
CHANG: Right. And is the specialized service for veterans continuing with the rest of 988?
CHATTERJEE: Exactly. That's continuing, yeah.
CHANG: Wait, so how is the Trump administration explaining why it's shutting down services separately for LGBTQ youth then?
CHATTERJEE: Yeah, so a spokesperson for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, which is in charge of 988, told me in an email that, quote, "the press 3 option has run out of congressionally directed funding." In other words, the money allocated for this service for 2025 has been spent. And they said that in order to continue providing the service, the agency would need to take money away from the rest of the 988 network and the service it provides to all who contact it. And Senator Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin wrote the bipartisan legislation that created 988 and the specialized service for LGBTQ+ youth. And she says ending these services is part of the administration's ongoing attacks on this group.
TAMMY BALDWIN: It is nothing short of cruel. Their political attacks on the LGBTQ community have been unrelenting.
CHATTERJEE: And the 988 data shows, you know, that the demand for these specialized services has been growing, with some 70,000 young people contacting 988 per month just this year.
CHANG: So what does this mean for LGBTQ youth after tomorrow? Like, what resources will they have?
CHATTERJEE: You know, they can, of course, still call 988 and get connected to a counselor. I also spoke with Mark Henson. He's with the Trevor Project, which handles about half of all 988 contacts by gay and trans youth, and he told me this.
MARK HENSON: The Trevor Project itself will continue to support the mental health and LGBTQ+ youth in crisis. The loss of this federal funding means that our capacity to do so has been cut in half.
CHATTERJEE: But he says they'll make sure there's someone always there to respond to youth in crisis, and such youth can go to thetrevorproject.org/gethelp.
CHANG: That is NPR's Rhitu Chatterjee. Thank you, Rhitu.
CHATTERJEE: Thank you, Ailsa.
CHANG: And if you or someone you know is in crisis, you can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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