The release refers to “LGB+ youth,” removing “transgender” from the acronym in compliance with a January executive order from President Donald Trump that sets a national standard for two accepted sexes, male and female.
The announcement, foreshadowed by a budget draft leaked in early May, was made in the middle of Pride Month. SAMHSA says the cut will allow the hotline “to focus on serving all help seekers.” The total funding for the hotline, $520 million a year, will not change, but the $33 million for the dedicated LGBTQ+ youth line, which SAMHSA says was fully expended by June 2025, will be reallocated.
“Everyone who contacts the 988 Lifeline will continue to receive access to skilled, caring, culturally competent crisis counselors who can help with suicidal, substance misuse, or mental health crises, or any other kind of emotional distress,” said the SAMHSA release. “Anyone who calls the Lifeline will continue to receive compassion and help.”
Within seconds of dialing 988, an automated voice will welcome callers to the national suicide and crisis hotline. Directions tell Spanish speakers to press 2, veterans to press 1, LGBTQIA+ youths and young adults to press 3 and all others to press 0, in that order.
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“You are not alone,” says the automatic voice before callers are connected to the next available counselor. “We care and want to support you.”
Since the suicide hotline was converted from an 800 number to the more easily remembered 988 in 2022, the three-digit crisis line has received 9.8 million calls, 2.6 million texts and 2.1 million online chats from Americans in need. Of all people who used the line, 1.3 million, or about 9%, hit three and were directed to the designated LGBTQ line.
Now, a leaked federal budget proposal obtained by NPR reveals potential cuts to the designated line, placing the already vulnerable LGBTQ community at even higher risk. The potentially hazardous move from the Capitol happens as a bill to bolster the underfunded hotline in Texas receives bipartisan support, soaring through the Texas House on its way to the Senate.
“While all 988 counselors are trained to serve diverse populations, the potential elimination of this specialized line remains a serious concern, especially for LGBTQ+ youth, who face significantly higher rates of suicidal ideation and crisis,” said Lyssette Galvan, public policy director for the Texas branch of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI Texas). “But the broader and more systemic threat is underfunding.”
The 988 line is federally mandated but state-run, and in Texas, it’s severely underfunded, says Galvan. Federal grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) pay for the hotline, but the Texas Tribune reports that the state’s system is facing a $7 million deficit. A set of similar bills, House Bill 5342, filed by Republican Rep. Brooks Landgraf, and Senate Bill 188, filed by Democratic Sen. Jose Menendez, would create a 988 state financing system through a trust fund, by implementing a small monthly surcharge applied to Texans' phone bills, similar to the 911 funding system. The 911 surcharge in Texas is 50 cents each month and generates $625 million each year.
The suicide and crisis hotline would otherwise remain free for all users.
HB 5342 easily cleared the House last week, with a 147-2 vote, and is now headed to the Senate. SB 188 has not moved out of committee.
“Currently, 988 operates entirely on federal funding, and without supplemental state support, its ability to serve Texans in need is at risk due to a $7 million deficit. Like physical health, mental health care is health care, and Texas must treat it as such,” said Sen. Judith Zaffirini, a cosponsor SB 188, to Reporting Texas. “988 faces an uncertain future without additional funding. SB 188 would help address 988’s deficit and ensure it can continue serving Texans in crisis through immediate and effective mental health support.”
LGBTQ Line Would Be Funding Cut Victim
The suicide and crisis hotline provides care for all, but offers specialized experiences for the two populations with the highest suicide rate, veterans and the LGBTQ community.“The concern with some of these federal cuts is that LGBTQ youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide than those that are not part of that community,” said Blanca Garcia, VP of mental health programs at the Grant Halliburton Foundation, a Dallas-based non-profit organization dedicated to youth suicide prevention advocacy. “It's very urgent and important that there are specific services for folks from that community, specifically our youth, because they need that. They need that support. And being able to have someone to talk to, being able to have someone that can relate to you, empathize with you, create that connection is an important factor.”
On top of the proposed cuts to the LGBTQ line, a recently revealed “2026 Skinny Budget” from the Trump administration cut SAMHSA’s future budget by $1.6 billion, leaving suicide prevention advocates to wonder about the safety of the early targets and the potential harm to other dedicated lines.
“I think my biggest concern is that they start there, they're focusing on [a] particular population,” Garcia said. “I see so much happening policy-wise and conversations around LGBTQ individuals and transgender individuals. I think it's easier for them to start with that group. The concern is that it's going to trickle down to all of the other groups as well.”
Nationally, about 17 veterans will die by suicide per day, according to Veterans Affairs. Texas has the largest veteran population in the country. The hotline provides counselors who can speak to the unique experiences of warfare and the aftereffects, but Garcia worries this won’t be the case for long.
"We want to make sure that in terms of mental health and mental health support, anyone who needs it gets that support," Garcia said. "They're cutting SAMHSA funds, they're cutting all types of funding services, and it's going to affect even our veterans."
Before veteran services are cut, Garcia imagines the line for Spanish-speakers will go down. It’s an assumption that saddens her as the Grant Halliburton Foundation receives an increasing number of calls from Spanish-speakers citing the Trump administration’s immigration policy as a cause for serious, life-threatening concerns.
“Even right now with a lot of the immigration issues and policy, with those concerns and fears, we've seen an increase in our calls in Spanish,” she said. “If they don't have the resources that they need to intervene and to improve themselves, it takes them closer and closer to being in a crisis situation.”
Room For Improvement
Garcia and Galvan agree that the new 988 line greatly expanded accessibility to emergency care and counseling. But the state’s hotline still needs a lot of work.“Many people mistakenly assume that launching 988 was the final step, when in reality, it was just the beginning,” Galvan said. “The infrastructure still isn’t where it needs to be. For example, youth tend to reach out by text and chat, but not all crisis centers in Texas have the technology or workforce to support those platforms. And even when they do, de-escalation over text or chat takes three times longer than over the phone, requiring more counselors, not fewer.”
According to a 2024 report from NAMI Texas, the Texas 988 hotline has received the second-highest volume of calls in the country, at 380,000 since 2022. However, according to a Tribune report, the second-largest state by area and population only has five hotline offices and 166 staff members to handle the high demand. This means a caller in Dallas could be served by a counselor in Houston with limited knowledge of North Texas resources. Oftentimes, the calls are even bounced out of the state, meaning a troubled Texan could be speaking with a counselor on the other side of the country.
“The resources [in each state] are a little bit different, the police departments might work a little bit different or the crisis response might work a little bit different,” Garcia said. “In a perfect world, that improvement would be that calls are answered within the person's county that they're calling from.”
Galvan says that significant improvements have been made since the line was revamped in 2022, increasing overall efficacy and saving lives.
“Around 80% of calls are resolved over the phone with no need for in-person response, meaning 988 not only helps people in crisis, but it also relieves pressure on 911, EMS, and law enforcement,” she said. “Even amid these challenges, Texas crisis counselors have achieved an 84% in-state answer rate in 2024, just below the 90% national goal. That’s a testament to the dedication of these frontline workers.”
Beyond seeing more localized care provided by the hotline, Garcia and Galvan would like to see more counselors and more money to afford them.
“The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has estimated we’ll need to double our crisis workforce to handle the expected surge once a statewide awareness campaign launches,” Galvan said. “Other states like Oklahoma have seen a 185% increase in volume following public outreach. We are asking our centers to prepare for this without giving them the sustainable funding or staffing to do so.”
Galvan is optimistic about increased funding for the suicide hotline and the promise of HB 5342.
“If signed into law, it would establish the Texas 988 Trust Fund, require annual reporting on call center utilization, and direct agencies to study long-term, sustainable funding options like general revenue or a telecom fee,” she said. “It’s a critical step forward to ensuring 988 is not just a number people can call but a fully funded, life-saving system that Texans can depend on.”
Garcia applauds the House for uniting and taking suicide prevention seriously, as she says its "ripple effect" has touched every Texan.
"Kudos to the Legislature here," she said. "The state tries to do better. There's lots of improvements to be made, but every improvement is a step in the right direction. Mental health affects everyone, every single person."
