Political Notebook: CA suicide line LGBTQ training details sparse

More than a month after Governor Gavin Newsom ballyhooed California would step up to train counselors at a state suicide support line for youth on LGBTQ issues, his office and state agencies have few specifics to share on how they plan to do so. Meanwhile, such support for LGBTQ youth provided by a national helpline has ended.

As of July 17, the Trump administration canceled the specially trained LGBTQ crisis counselors youth under the age of 25 could request when calling the national 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. It was known as the “Press 3 option,” as when prompted, youth could press the number three (or text it) to be connected to one of the counselors.

The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration had announced June 18 the counselors would no longer serve queer and trans youth come this month, as the Bay Area Reporter had reported. That same Wednesday, Newsom’s office touted how California was “stepping up with historic mental health investments, including a $4.7 billion Master Plan for Kids’ Mental Health and continued partnerships with organizations like The Trevor Project to provide LGBTQ suicide prevention for youth.”

A separate news release that day from gay Assemblymember Mark González (D-Los Angeles), that also quoted Newsom and Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis, noted the Legislature had backed Newsom’s allocation request for $17.5 million to support the 988 State Suicide and Behavioral Health Crisis Services Fund. It noted the funding would “ensure calls are directed to trained, culturally competent counselors who understand the needs of the communities they serve.”

A month later, Newsom’s office announced on July 16 that the California Health and Human Services Agency, known as CalHHS, and the LGBTQ-youth focused nonprofit Trevor Project had formed “a new partnership” to train the counselors staffing the dozen 988 call centers around the state on how to best address the needs of LGBTQ youth calling the helpline. The goal, per the gubernatorial announcement, is “to provide the state’s 988 crisis counselors enhanced competency training from experts, ensuring better attunement to the needs of LGBTQ youth, on top of the specific training they already receive.”

Yet, how soon the 500-plus state-based counselors will receive the training remains unclear. Nor is it known how much doing so will cost, as officials with several state agencies, Newsom’s office and The Trevor Project all told the B.A.R. in recent days they could not provide a price tag for the training.

During a phone interview last week with the B.A.R. Trevor Project interim Vice President for Advocacy and Government Affairs Mark Henson had said he didn’t know the specifics in terms of the cost for the training. He did say the agency would not be getting all of the $17.5 million allocation.

Henson stressed that LGBTQ youth in the Golden State needing assistance now should feel comfortable calling 988. The Trevor Project training will be “supplementing” the California counselors’ “existing competence and knowledge” they already possess, he explained.

“The key here is 988 counselors across the U.S. are trained in suicide prevention techniques,” said Henson. “We want to make sure LGBTQ youth who call are met with affirmation and support instead of inadvertently met with confusion or being asked for clarification about something they say.”

But Henson said it was too soon to discuss specifics about the LGBTQ-focused training module for the California-based helpline counselors, such as what it would entail and when it would be rolled out.

“As quickly as humanly possible,” he pledged. “We recognize this is a pressing need. California recognizes this is a pressing need.”

Sent a follow-up email with questions on how long the training would take to complete and if it would be conducted in-person or online, Hanson reiterated his initial response in an emailed reply July 21 to the B.A.R.

“We're at the earliest stages of this partnership that will ultimately result in the hundreds of crisis counselors across California's 12 centers receiving extra training and skills development to support LGBTQ+ youth in crisis and improve their outcomes. We encourage more states to follow California’s example,” wrote Henson.

A spokesperson for Newsom directed the B.A.R. to contact CalHHS with its questions regarding the state’s partnership with The Trevor Project.

The agency last week declined to make its secretary, Kim Johnson, available for an interview and told the B.A.R. that no staffer could speak with it. A spokesperson did disclose it will be “months” before the LGBTQ training for the state helpline counselors is rolled out.

“CalHHS and The Trevor Project will partner to work with California 988 Crisis Centers to effectively address the needs of all Californians who contact 988, inclusive of LGBTQ+ young people. In the coming months, The Trevor Project will provide trainings to equip 988 crisis center staff with welcoming, culturally competent, and risk-informed skills to serve LGBTQ+ young people, on top of the training they already have,” wrote public information officer Vincent Martinez with the agency’s Office of External Affairs in an emailed reply to the B.A.R. July 18.

In response to follow-up questions about specifics on the training, Martinez told the B.A.R. July 21 that CalHHS and The Trevor Project are “in the process of developing a workplan” for it. As for the paper’s funding related questions, he directed the B.A.R. to inquire with the state’s Department of Health Care Services on how the $17.5 million will be spent.

A spokesperson for that agency told the B.A.R. it would be unable to respond to questions prior to the paper’s July 23 print deadline.

To address inflated rates of suicidal ideation in LGBTQ youth, González is the author this year of Assembly Bill 727, which will require The Trevor Project’s 24 hours per day, 7 days per week suicide hotline 1-866-488-7386 be included on student identification cards given to those in grades 7 to 12 and enrolled in the state’s public colleges and universities. (The line also can be accessed by texting START to 678-678.)

Newsom this spring pledged to sign the bill into law once it hits his desk. The impacted schools would have until July 1, 2026, to update the design of their ID cards for pupils.

In a recent phone interview with the B.A.R. González faulted the Trump administration for not only ending the dedicated counselors for LGBTQ youth via the national helpline but also for the myriad actions it has taken to defund critical programs “for folks across the board.”

“It sucks this is what they want to do federally. Lives are at stake, but this administration does not care,” said González, adding that when it comes to protecting vital programs for Californians, “Our job here is to keep, keep, keep.”

Via both passage of his bill and the funding allocation for the state’s suicide crisis services fund, González said the goal of California lawmakers is to ensure LGBTQ youth facing a mental health crisis are provided the life-saving assistance they require.

“As it relates to my bill, we are making sure that number is accessible. We would not put a bill forward and get it signed and then have the number not be accessible,” said González. “I know the Governor made a commitment early on to keep this line alive, at least here in California.”

Youth anywhere in the U.S. can call The Trevor Project’s own helpline number and receive support. As for the 988 number, a youth needs to be located in California in order to be connected with a counselor at one of the 12 call centers in the Golden State.

Thus, a youth from a different state who happens to be visiting California and calls 988 would be routed to one of the state-based counselors who will be receiving the LGBTQ cultural competency training. Henson told the B.A.R. the Golden State is, so far, the only one to engage it in providing such training.

He noted that The Trevor Project’s experts are “equipped with a care model developed over the last 27-plus years” and stressed to the B.A.R. that they “are available to support crisis counselors at any center, in any state, across the country.”

And Henson reiterated his agency’s “gratitude that California's state government has stepped in to help fill the gap in crisis care for LGBTQ+ youth in their state by partnering with The Trevor Project to provide the state’s 988 general crisis counselors with critical LGBTQ+ competency training. This is a step in the right direction and a signal that California understands the premise that high-risk groups like LGBTQ+ youth require specialized care to meet their unique needs.”

Web Extra: For more queer political news, be sure to check http://www.ebar.com Monday mornings for Political Notes, the notebook's online companion. This week's column reported on the end of an LGBTQ special election winning streak in the West.

Keep abreast of the latest LGBTQ political news by following the Political Notebook on Threads @ https://www.threads.net/@matthewbajko and on Bluesky @ https://bsky.app/profile/politicalnotes.bsky.social .

Got a tip on LGBTQ politics? Call Matthew S. Bajko at (415) 829-8836 or email [email protected] .

If you are experiencing a crisis, call The Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386 or visit thetrevorproject.org .