EVERETT — A call center in Everett is one of a handful that provides a national LGBTQ+ youth suicide hotline that the Trump administration will eliminate funding for later this month.
In 2023, Volunteers of America Western Washington joined the LGBTQ+ Youth Subnetwork, which is part of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. The program provides specialized crisis counseling to LGBTQ+ people under the age of 25, a group that is at a disproportionately high risk of suicide, said Levi Van Dyke, chief behavioral health officer at Volunteers of America Western Washington.
On June 18, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration announced it would be terminating funding for the program within 30 days. On July 17, call centers throughout the country will no longer be able to provide specialized services to LGBTQ+ youth.
On Monday, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Everett, met with Volunteers of America Western Washington leadership to discuss the consequences of the federal cuts.
Volunteers of America Western Washington is one of seven centers in the country that has a 24/7 hotline specifically for LGBTQ+ youth. Since the program began in 2023, the VOAWW hotline has seen 48,000 contacts through its chat and text lines. Nationwide, there have been more than 1.5 million contacts since 2023. Right now, many LGBTQ+ youth know that they can call 988 and press 3 to be connected with a specialized crisis counselor. Getting rid of that suddenly could be dangerous, Van Dyke said.
“It starts to erode trust or the perception of consistency out in the community,” he said. “They’re like, ‘Well, we’ve already heard the Number 3 option is going away, is 988 overall going away?’”
Chief Behavioral Health Officer Levi Van Dyke talks about the direct impact federal cuts will have on those that need the national LGBTQ+ youth suicide hotline on Monday, June 30, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
About 55 VOAWW employees are facing layoffs because of the cuts, Van Dyke said.
“Right now, we’re left in a position where we can only absorb folks into the current openings we have, and unfortunately we don’t have a lot,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of capacity within our other contracts to do a lot of hiring.”
Van Dyke said that with the subnetwork going away, call volumes might shift to the main 988 line, increasing wait times nationally. For a crisis lifeline, even a few seconds can be fatal, especially if a caller has already initiated a suicide attempt, said Rena Fitzgerald, executive director of behavioral health at VOAWW.
“That is absolutely going to cost lives,” she said.
In 2024, nearly 40% of LGBTQ+ young people in Washington seriously considered suicide within the year, and 1 in 10 attempted suicide, according to a report from The Trevor Project.
Van Dyke said he learned about the potential cuts in April through a leaked draft of the Trump administration’s budget. At the time, he assumed the funding would continue until the end of the contract in September. Instead, he received 30 days notice.
“We hear from our team that are part of the LGBTQ+ community all the time that they’re really feeling the components of erasure, or like they’re not important, and we’re seeing that come through in so many ways,” Van Dyke said.
Inside the office of Volunteers of America Western Washington hotline center on Monday, June 30, 2025 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
The adverse effects on LGBTQ+ youth could be exacerbated by other potential federal cuts, VOAWW CEO Brian Smith said, including Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Amid federal cuts, Larsen said lawmakers need to start planning how to rebuild in the future.
“We need to be thinking about the priorities in terms of rebuilding the social safety net for folks, as well as rebuilding access to health care, access to affordable food and access to appropriate behavioral health,” he said. “That’s the only positive message I have for you.”
Volunteers of America Western Washington is working with other 988 call centers in the state to provide specialized training for helping LGBTQ+ youth. People looking for specialized support after July 16 can also reach The Trevor Project lifeline by calling 1-866-488-7386, texting “START” to 678-678 or via a live chat at thetrevorproject.org.
Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn.
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