ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — LGBTQ+ calls made to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline’s will reroute to its general hotline after the Trump Administration ended the call option Thursday.

In a statement one month prior to the termination, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, SAMHSA, said, “the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline will no longer silo LGB+ youth services, also known as the “Press 3 option,” to focus on serving all help seekers, including those previously served through the Press 3 option.”

“We’re going to have to hopefully level up the training as much as possible and really focus on how do we prepare these mental health professionals to be inundated with calls that are now going to go back into the general queue,” said Dr. Byron Green-Calisch, board of directors’ president of St. Pete Pride.

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline was established in 2020 under President Trump’s first administration.

According to administration, the ‘Press 3’ option was established two years later as a pilot program under a government agreement with a third party, The Trevor Project.

Adolescents and young adults under the age of 25 who would call 988 would be able to press 3 to be routed to LGBTQ+ specialized counselors.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 41% of LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in 2023 and 20% did attempt to die by suicide.

Dr. Calisch told News Channel 8 the difference in receiving targeted assistance lies in understanding which provides swiftness in meeting needs.

“We don’t want to have providers need or have to ask questions about why this very specific issue is as large as it is, or in the space of triaging, we want to be as quickly as we can to get people to help that they need, and that culturally informed provider is going to be able to cut straight through these issues to get to the heart of the problems,” Calisch said. “Unfortunately, all of the mental health providers are not culturally informed [as] it is not a part of the basic curricula that is, that allows for people to get licensed across the country.”

Calls made to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the Tampa Bay area are routed to the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay.

“We do expect an increase [in calls] and we are prepared for that increase,” said Clara Reynolds, Crisis Center of Tampa Bay president and CEO. “We maintain that database right here in our community. We have over 4,000 different resources that we can connect individuals to, no matter what their crisis is, no matter how big or how small, we’re the ones that can connect people to the right service at the right time.”