This Is Not Trauma-Informed Care. This Is Betrayal

“You can’t call it trauma-informed care while erasing the very people most impacted by trauma. Care that excludes is not care—it’s compliance.” - Mary Coughlin

On July 17, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline will eliminate its LGBTQ+ youth-specific support services—a decision that strips away one of the few affirming lifelines available to queer and trans youth in crisis.

I want to be clear about what this is.

This is not a routine policy shift.
This is not a neutral move toward “inclusion.”
This is a betrayal.

Nearly 1.3 million people have reached out to these identity-specific services since 2022. In that same time, suicide risk among LGBTQ+ youth—especially transgender teens—has remained heartbreakingly high. These are not statistics to me. They are a call I feel deep in my bones.

When the Trump administration proposes eliminating funding for these services in its 2026 budget—and SAMHSA echoes the party line that “we serve all people” as justification—I cannot stay silent.

Because I know better.
And because I know better, I cannot pretend this is care.

From a Trauma-Informed Developmental Care (TIDC) Perspective:

This decision violates everything we claim to stand for when we say “trauma-informed.”

• Psychological safety is not one-size-fits-all. LGBTQ+ youth have been rejected, bullied, assaulted, and legislated against. They need and deserve identity-specific, culturally responsive spaces.

• Trust and transparency are not maintained when essential services disappear without meaningful community consultation or clarity.

• Equity is not sameness. LGBTQ+ youth are not at the same level of risk as their cisgender, heterosexual peers. Treating them as if they are is both ignorant and dangerous.

• Peer-informed, affirming care is a lifeline, not a luxury. And removing it under the guise of neutrality is political violence—disguised as compassion.

This is not trauma-informed care.
This is trauma-obscured compliance.
And it’s happening on our watch.

I Am Speaking From My Own Fire

I am tired of the gaslighting.
I am tired of watching marginalized people—especially young queer and trans people—be erased in the name of “unity.”

I work in trauma-informed systems. I teach it. I write it. I live it.
And I will say this, loud and clear:

You cannot call it trauma-informed care while erasing the very people most impacted by trauma.
Care that excludes is not care—it’s compliance.

Now, We Need to Show Up

If you, like me, believe trauma-informed care is more than a slogan…

If you believe LGBTQ+ youth deserve to feel safe when they reach out for help…

If you feel the fire and grief and rage of watching services be dismantled by politics masquerading as policy…

Then we need to say this out loud:

• This decision is not neutral.

• This is not care.

• And this cannot stand.

What Can We Do?

We don’t need to wait for permission to act.
We are the caregivers, the clinicians, the leaders, the educators, the advocates.

Here’s how we resist:

• Speak up. Share this post. Call it what it is.

• Support The Trevor Project, Trans Lifeline, and every grassroots effort still holding the line.

• Contact SAMHSA and your elected officials. Demand they fund services that actually save lives.

• Refuse to let “trauma-informed” become a hollow phrase. Hold it to the fire. Make it mean something.

We Are the Buffer

In the NICU, we talk about buffering trauma—about the power of one person, one presence, one voice, to shift a life’s trajectory.

LGBTQ+ youth need buffers now. And if our institutions won’t show up, we must.

We will be the buffer.
We will be the witnesses.
We will not let them be erased.

Signed in grief and in fire,
Mary