Trevor Project Contractor Lays Off Suicide Counselors From 988 Hotline

Crisis counselors who answer calls dealing with suicidal LGBTQ+ young people on behalf of the Trevor Project for the recently established 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline are upset about layoffs at the agency. They say they’re outraged not about the layoffs but about how employees were informed of the reduction in the workforce. Some claim that the mental health support agency acted in such a way that it put their own psychological well-being at risk. Rae Kaplan and Finn DePriest say that on June 14, an invitation for an online meeting was sent out to staff with 2 hours’ notice. At the meeting, representatives informed attendees that many would be laid off effective July 2. They explain that they came from a stable job and joined the 988 line in January, about six months into the program’s existence. Founder and interim CEO of The Trevor Project Peggy Rajski said in a statement, “Given the high volume of counselors needed for the pilot phase of 988 and the fluctuation of government funding, we contract Insight Global, a third-party resource, to provide counseling contractor counselors to help support 988…Bottom line, given the funds that The Trevor Project receives from the federal government are being reduced, we are not able to continue engaging vendors to provide the number of contractors we originally needed."