{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.baldwin.senate.gov/news/press-releases/news-baldwin-secures-return-of-mental-health-help-on-988-for-lgbtq-kids", "NEWS: Baldwin Secures Return of Mental Health Help on 988 for LGBTQ Kids", "2026-09-30", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "WI", "Tammy Baldwin", "B001230", "www.baldwin.senate.gov", "baldwin", "https://www.baldwin.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 After more than a year of pressure from U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), 988\u2019s specialized \u201cPress 3\u201d services for LGBTQ youth resumed today. This news comes after the Trump Administration abruptly canceled \u201cPress 3\u201d over a year ago and has since dragged their feet on following Senator Baldwin's bipartisan law that mandated a return of these services. For more than 14 months, the Trump Administration withheld specialized services for a population that is more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers.\n\n\u201cSuicide and mental health struggles touch every community across our state, and that\u2019s why creating the 988 crisis lifeline to make sure help is there for everyone is one of my proudest accomplishments,\u201d said Senator Baldwin. \u201cBut, last year, the Trump Administration decided to make these real struggles a political football and ripped away the specialized line that helped LGBTQ children. This was a deliberate choice. The Trump Administration chose to put children\u2019s lives on the line to score some political points. I\u2019ve fought tooth and nail to restore this lifesaving resource. When I realized the Trump Administration was not going to do it on their own, I wrote it into federal law to require them to restore the Press 3 option. This lifesaving resource never should have gone away in the first place, but I am glad the lifesaving support Press 3 provides is once again there for people who need it.\u201d\n\nSince the first reports of the Trump Administration\u2019s planned shuttering of 988\u2019s specialized services for LGBTQ youth, Senator Baldwin pushed for the reinstatement, including:\n\nMay 2025: Senator Baldwin led her colleagues in slamming the Trump Administration\u2019s plan to take away lifesaving mental health services at the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline from LGBTQ youth.\n\nJune 2025: Baldwin condemned the Trump Administration\u2019s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announcement of their plans to shut down the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline\u2019s specialized services for LGBTQ youth in 30 days.\n\nJuly 2025: On the third anniversary of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, Baldwin highlighted the Trump Administration\u2019s dangerous decision to cut services for at-risk children.\n\nJuly 2025: As ranking member of the Senate Labor-HHS (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee, Baldwin helped write and advance a fiscal year 2026 bill providing $535 million for 988\u2014a $15 million increase\u2014and restored dedicated funding for LGBTQ youth specialized services. The bill also rejected proposed cuts to SAMHSA and preserved it as an independent agency.\n\nSeptember 2025: U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) introduced bipartisan legislation, the 988 LGBTQ+ Youth Access Act, to codify the 988 lifeline\u2019s specialized services for LGBTQ young people.\n\nJanuary 2026: Baldwin released the LHHS bill that provides $535 million, a $15 million increase over fiscal year 2025, for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, to provide additional support for the program as reliance on 988 continues to increase since its launch.\n\nJanuary 2026: The Senate passed Baldwin\u2019s bipartisan bill to fund the Department of Health and Human Services. Included in the bill is language mandating the return of 988\u2019s LGBTQ youth specialized services.\n\nApril 2026: When Secretary Kennedy testified in front of the Senate LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee, Baldwin secured a commitment from Secretary Kennedy to follow the law and restore the 988 \u201cPress 3\u201d option.\n\nJune 2026: Senator Baldwin toured the 988 call center in Green Bay and held a roundtable with 988 Lifeline staff and local stakeholders about the impact the crisis line has had on mental health outcomes.\n\nJuly 2026: Baldwin celebrated the fourth anniversary of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, which came on the heels of a new study that found that since the launch of the three-digit crisis line, youth suicide deaths dropped 11% below projections, saving 4,372 lives.\n\nSeptember 2026: Senator Baldwin questioned several of President Trump\u2019s nominees for positions within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) at a Senate hearing and secured commitments that the Trump Administration will restore the \u2018Press 3\u2019 option for LGBTQ youth at the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by the end of September.\n\nSenator Baldwin wrote and passed the legislation to create the three-digit 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and has led the fight to ensure it gets properly funded each year. To support Wisconsin\u2019s implementation of 988, the Senator also secured over $3 million in dedicated federal funding. When it was established, Baldwin and her Republican counterpart incorporated a specialized service for veterans, who disproportionately have suicidal ideation. Baldwin then successfully stood up a pilot program to address higher rates of suicide and mental health challenges among LGBTQ youth.\n\nAs ranking member of LHHS Senator Baldwin fought to secure $535 million for the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline and to restore dedicated funding for LGBTQ youth specialized services in Fiscal Year 2026 funding legislation.\n\nThe demand for 988 continues to rise, with the volume of calls, texts, and chats 15% higher than a year earlier and nearly 50% higher than two years ago. Since the lifeline launched, it has received over 27 million contacts, including over 18 million calls, 4 million texts, and 3 million chats.\n\n###", 1, "2026-10-01T11:23:28Z", "2026-10-01T11:25:15Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.baldwin.senate.gov/news/press-releases/news-baldwin-secures-return-of-mental-health-help-on-988-for-lgbtq-kids"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.09801085293293, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}