Washington prepares for end of 988 crisis line support tailored to LGBTQ+ youth

Specialty services for LGBTQ+ youth will be removed from the national 988 suicide and crisis hotline on Thursday, July 17, following a federal decision announced last month.

The hotline will continue to offer confidential, round-the-clock support in Washington through the state’s three contracted crisis centers, but the “press 3 option” to connect to a subnetwork of counselors specializing in the support of LGBTQ+ youth ages 13 to 24 will no longer be available.

Other subnetworks — one for veterans and military families, one for Spanish-speaking individuals, and one for Native and Indigenous people in Washington — will remain active.

In the month since the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration announced that LGBTQ+ youth services on the phone line would shut down, Washington’s Department of Health has been training its general 988 crisis counselors to provide that support.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/briefs/washington-prepares-for-end-of-988-crisis-line-support-tailored-to-lgbtq-youth/