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Season 6, Episode 149

LGBTQ+ crisis line defunded: Trevor Project counselor speaks out

The Trevor Project Gray

 

Guest Name:


Jean Thielen

Guest Website:


https://www.thetrevorproject.org/ 

Guest Social Media:


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Twitter

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Supportive Documents:


Jean Thielen, crisis counselor for the Trevor Project, spoke about the recent defunding of the 988 LGBTQ+ crisis hotline, its impact on vulnerable youth and the organization’s ongoing efforts to provide support. 

 

Thielen explained that the defunding of the 988 LGBTQ+ sub-network came as a shock, with only 30 days’ notice given to staff. Over 220 Trevor Project employees lost their jobs, and the total impact across multiple organizations is estimated to be around 1,000 lost jobs. This sudden cut, occurring during Pride Month, has left a significant gap in specialized support for LGBTQ+ youth in crisis, she noted.

 

Despite the setback, the Trevor Project continues to offer its specialized services through its website, phone line and texting. Thielen emphasized the importance of spreading awareness about these alternative methods of reaching out for help. She said the organization is working to expand its capabilities to handle potential increases in volume, though the full impact of the 988 defunding on its services remains uncertain.

 

The Trevor Project and its supporters, including unions such as CWA Local 1180, are exploring legal options and organizing protests to fight the defunding. Thielen stressed the critical nature of providing competent, specialized care for LGBTQ+ youth, who are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers. The organization remains committed to its mission of supporting vulnerable youth despite the challenges posed by the loss of the 988 sub-network, she added.

 

Listen to the full episode of the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to hear more about the Trevor Project’s ongoing efforts and the impact of the 988 LGBTQ+ line defunding.

 


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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