This is Part 4 of a multi-part series on mass layoffs at The Trevor Project. Read Part 1 here, Part 2 here, and Part 3 here.
i set out to write about The Trevor Project's union busting.
since then, i've read truly so many press statements, memos, interviews, and more during research. my assumption was that this was a simple story of not giving a shit about your employees.
but now, i understand: this is a complicated story of not giving a shit about your employees.
More discussion of 988 and Suicide Prevention ahead.
The Pilot Program
Establishing a service of such critical importance requires
care and consideration.
Our primary concern is ensuring we develop a pilot that will
eliminate barriers and provide affirming support to LGBTQIA+
populations.
-John Draper, Lifeline's Executive Director &
Executive VP of National Networks for
Vibrant Emotional Health, 2022
thanks in part to The Trevor Project's research and advisement, Vibrant Emotional Health, the nonprofit that runs the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, brought in some help to establish a queer-youth specific connection.
the number to reach out to in america if you're having suicidal thoughts is 988. pressing 3 will reroute your call to counselors who, in theory, specialize in LGBT youth mental health. since the Trevor Project already had a service like this, it made sense to enlist their help.
this means that your 988+3 call may be redirected to The Trevor Project counselors, depending on your region, time of day, and current call volume. it takes a lot of people to run a 24/7 crisis hotline!
("Currently" was as of that blog's posting, December 2022.)
The Trevor Project are a well known LGBTQ mental health resource in the United States, with a focus on tech that made them ideal for this task. but they are not the only ones, nor should they be! america is a big place, there's a lot of ground to cover!
the nonprofit stationed in california is only a single piece of the picture! they were only the 'primary service provider' for as long as the program was a pilot. this was always temporary.
The Trevor Project are not the only organization in america that have phones and want to help queer kids not kill themselves.
they just behave like they are.
The Trevor Project is thrilled that the FCC continues
to recognize the importance of suicide prevention and
highlight the need for special services for LGBTQ youth.
Chairman Pai’s order notes increased rates of suicidal ideation
among young LGBTQ Americans and provides recommendations
for stakeholders to work in collaboration with government
groups to ensure these at-risk communities are being
properly served by the Lifeline.
-Sam Brinton, Former Vice President of Advocacy
& Government Affairs for The Trevor Project,
July 2020
before being fired from the nuclear waste division of the Department of Energy by the US government for allegedly stealing luggage twice, Sam worked at Trevor to handle talkin to the government and stuff.
The Trevor Project is thrilled to see the National Suicide
Hotline Designation Act — the first explicitly LGBTQ-inclusive
bill to ever pass Congress unanimously — officially signed into
law.
We will continue to work closely with SAMHSA and the FCC
to ensure that the bill’s recommendation of specialized services
for LGBTQ youth is formally incorporated into the 988 implementation
plan and that this life-saving, three-digit number remains on-track
to go live in July 2022.
-Sam Brinton, Former Vice President of Advocacy
& Government Affairs for The Trevor Project,
October 2020
sam is thrilled! trevor is thrilled! this is all so thrilling!
The launch of the 988 lifeline is a watershed moment for
transforming the U.S.’ crisis care system and provides the
opportunity for safe, accessible, equitable care — supported
by local mobile crisis teams.
This will hopefully make accessing mental health crisis services
easier for those in need, and The Trevor Project is thrilled to see
this finally come to fruition after years of work from mental health
advocates and organizations across the country.
-Abie Peacock for The Trevor Project, July 2022
beyond the thrill of getting in touch with suicidal children, trevor is also "thrilled" about banning conversion therapy, especially nationally, and giving a trophy to lil nas x
now don't get me started on how often Trevor "applauds"
[The Trevor Project] applauded the passage of the FY22
omnibus appropriations bill, which was signed into law by
President Biden today.
The $1.5 trillion federal spending package included robust
funding for suicide prevention and mental health resources,
including language that would allocate $7.2 million to implement
specialized services for LGBTQ youth in connection with the
upcoming activation of 988.
-The Trevor Project, March 2022
but damn, those are some numbers! 1.5 trillion? 7.2 million? big money! huge returns for whatever The Trevor Project's business is again
“Mental health and suicide prevention are not partisan issues.
We look forward to continue working with Congress and the
Administration to ensure the activation of 988 is a success —
and to transform our entire crisis care system to be more
comprehensive and humane. Together, we can equip LGBTQ
young people with the resources needed to not only survive,
but to thrive.”
this quote really makes it sound as though Trevor would be getting this government funding, but that is not what the budget says!
NSPL Specialized Services for LGBTQ Youth.--The Committee directs that of the funds made available for NSPL, $7,200,000 shall be used to provide specialized services for LGBTQ youth within the NSPL. SAMHSA shall make this funding competitively available to an organization with experience working with LGBTQ youth and capable of handling LGBTQ youth callers through Integrated Voice Response.
SAMHSA gets $7.2 mill to give how they see fit, to "an organization". you assumed that would be you because of your funny robots, didn't you trevor?
but SAMHSA handles the funding for SAMHSA projects.
we're talking about the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, they do work i'm sure Amit is very familiar with.
now, SAMHSA has been getting about $7.2 million a year for suicide hotline funding since 2018, the scale of this figure is nothing new. however, the yearly funding was scheduled to run out in 2022; an extra year's extension saved the day on that.
so, to clarify: SAMHSA getting a separate $7.2 million earmarked for an LGBTQ extension of the 988 line is a big deal!
“This is a critical investment that will fortify and
expand our nation’s mental health infrastructure,
and help save young lives. The Trevor Project is
especially grateful that this package includes funding
for specialized services, ensuring LGBTQ youth who
contact 988 come July will have access to culturally
competent services in times of crisis.
but uh... the way Trevor's press releases read, it feels like it's already been decided the money is for them. but that isn't how this works.
y'all at Trevor know that you aren't getting that $7.2 million, right?
you understand that, right?
Mental health and suicide prevention are not partisan
issues. We look forward to continue working with Congress
and the Administration to ensure the activation of 988 is a
success — and to transform our entire crisis care system to
be more comprehensive and humane. Together, we can equip
LGBTQ young people with the resources needed to not only
survive, but to thrive.
-Preston Mitchum, Former Vice President
of Advocacy & Government Affairs for
The Trevor Project, March 2022
yet another 'former' VP- thankfully, preston didn't commit any crimes. he was on a reality show during the writers' strike lately, but like, i'll take that over stealing my suitcase?
let's jump forward a bit to late 2022; trevor sans amit, non?
[The Trevor Project] applauded the inclusion of nearly
$30 million in the FY23 omnibus appropriations bill for
[SAMHSA] to enhance training and provide access to
specialized services through the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline
for marginalized youth.
This federal spending package, which will soon be signed
into law by President Biden, builds upon the $7.2 million
Congress allocated to pilot specialized access for
LGBTQ youth in FY22.
i'm starting to worry management at Trevor is too busy 'applauding' to think about what 'pilot' means.
now, i'm gonna skip the part where they quote susan collins for a while, (i'm from maine i can legally tell her to go fuck herself)
After years of close collaboration and consultation in
support of the 988 Lifeline’s services, Vibrant Emotional
Health subcontracted The Trevor Project as the primary
service provider to launch this pilot program for LGBTQ youth.
you're getting ahead of yourselves; the pilot program is for proof that this can be for LGBTQ youth. that's what a pilot program is; a narrow-scope test!
by its very definition, it's temporary and small-scale, but since choosing which suicidal children to prioritize would be incredibly dangerous and inhumane, the test was available to all callers
it would be very strange indeed if you weren't the 'primary service provider'- you spent years shoring yourselves up to meet capacity and scale. but being the 'primary service provider' for the test does not mean you will be for the full-scale launch!
do you know what this test proved? well, among other things...
...the more people you bring in, the more calls you can answer. funny how that works! seems like we should be bringing more people in, then!
The pilot is expected to conclude on July 3, when the
service is expected to become a permanent 988 Lifeline
subnetwork, with an expansion that will result in a 39 percent
increase in staffing capacity to provide this critical service for
LGBTQI+ youth.
To increase the capacity of providers to support LGBTQI+ youth,
the new subnetwork will consist of seven centers, including the
Trevor Project and six others, answering calls, texts, and chats.
-Dani Bennett, Spokesperson
for SAMHSA to The Advocate,
June 2023
a lasting 988 LGBT redirect means lasting structure, not unpaid volunteers trained on chatgpt. like i said, the trevor project isn't the only LGBT mental health resource.
they just behave like they are
Let's Talk About Grants, I'm Sorry In Advanced
(shoutouts to my mother who writes grants as part of her job for talking me through this!)
a government grant is the means for acquiring federal financing for a Thing. which Thing is that? not your Thing, specifically, just your category of Thing!
federal grants are most often requested and approved by state agencies, or larger non and even for-profit corps. ones that are focused on financing for a class of tasks, not typically a specific one. SAMHSA, for instance, applies for a federal grant for 'suicide hotline funding', and then sub-grants that money out to several institutions across the country for practical implementation
considering how dang big the united states is (citation needed), and how monotonous getting directly through to the US government is, both ends of the financing benefit from the intermediary.
for those requesting financing, an individual or committee with understanding of how to use money to do the Thing, will write a grant or grants on behalf of their company, state, township, etc.
for instance, if you wanted a grant to fund your nonprofit, you'd apply for a nonprofit grant that your entity qualifies for, through a sub-granter like SAMHSA. if none exist, then your job is to write grant requests that are more likely to be approved, working with these very organizations, and with very careful wording.
the federal government isn't likely to write "The Trevor Project" a grant. getting a federal grant directly is... well, to quote my mother,
...The application and reporting requirements for federal grants are notoriously onerous.
after however many viable applicants apply for funding, the institution organizing grant allocation chooses who is best suited to use the money as the grant requires. once the winners are chosen, they're all notified about the money they'll all be getting.
winners, plural. because, and i cannot stress this enough, government grants tend to be awarded to multiple organizations. that is how this works.
grant recipients get their portion of funding based on the core terms; X amount of money for Y Thing over the course of Z years.
this allows organizations to plan around that funding; the start and end dates of the grant are made clear from the outset. you know damn well when a federal grant is going to run out. the same can, in general, be said about state-government grants, but it really does depend on the state.
though uh, grants from private corporations come with more asterisks than decimal places; remember our 'friends' at PwC? their $6 million grant came with the condition that PwC do the consulting on its distribution
we're almost done, hope you're still with me!
finally, continuation grants are what they sound like: continuing a grant, past its pre-defined end date. that's just what happened in the case of SAMHSA getting another year of funding for its suicide-prevention hotline
these continuations are, themselves, still beholden to the grant's extant terms. BUT, and this is very important!
Continuation grants are typically available to existing recipients of discretionary, multi-year projects; however, new applicants may be considered. Receipt of a continuation grant is usually based on availability of funds, project performance, and compliance with progress and financial reporting requirements. Applications for continuation may compete with other continuation requests submitted to the awarding agency.
Via Grants.gov
the funding's allocation may change!
same money, same goal, but passed out in different amounts to different bodies seeking to reach that goal.
for example: deciding that your pilot program was successful, so you focus funding on bringing in more people, more organizations across the united states
so, the government approved a grant to SAMHSA, who allot it to organizations like Vibrant Emotional Health as they deem appropriate. The Trevor Project was consulted and given some of this funding to get a working version of 988's LGBT line online. a pilot program. at no point was the plan for them to be the administrators.
there was no sudden running out of grants. there was no unexpected loss of funding. they were, as they said themselves, 'sub-contracted'. The Trevor Project is not, and was never going to be, the organization in charge.
The Trevor Project Assumed They'd Be In Charge
"getting the funding" this, "timing allowed for implementation" that- why is the same company that produced a line of suicidal child robots to train unpaid volunteers to scale only NOW concerned about "the best care" not being "rushed"?
In addition, Sam Brinton, The Trevor Project’s Head of Advocacy
and Government Affairs, encouraged quick action in implementing
a three-digit code for the Lifeline. They also urged federal officials
to provide LGBTQ cultural competency training for Lifeline
counselors, and to establish an integrated voice response to route
calls to organizations with the appropriate expertise to assist LGBTQ
youth in crisis, such as The Trevor Project.
-Kinzi Sparks for The Trevor Project, 2019
the 'move fast and take things' approach when trying to get the government to work with organizations """such as""" the fucking trevor project, but once they get that funding: 'we must take our time to do this right'
this implies you were, prior, doing it wrong.
let me remind you what The Trevor Project was brought on to do:
[Lifeline's executive director] declined to discuss which
LGBTQ-focused organizations are being considered as
988 providers, but noted that “the Trevor Project has
long been a collaborator and valuable adviser to Vibrant
in support of the Lifeline’s service to LGBTQIA+ populations.”
a "collaborator". a "valuable adviser". not an administrator. The Trevor Project was the "primary service contractor" for 988's LGBTQ extension on a temporary basis- so they do not get to act surprised when they're no longer the ones getting all the funding.
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...
...we – like many other organizations and businesses receiving
government awards – must contend with the reality of needing
to ramp up or ramp down staff and vendors relative to the funds
available.
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.
-Peggy Rajski, CEO of The Trevor
Project to Advocate, June 2023
bullshit. absolute bullshit.
either Trevor didn't know the exact date the pilot program would end, or they did, but they knew it would end at some point. that's what a pilot program is.
Trevor's higher ups are either lying to cover their asses, wildly incompetent, or (and this is it, in my opinion) assumed nothing would change. and operated as if they would be the "primary service provider" for 988+3 forever, despite this never being the agreement.
any assumption that subgranting for a pilot program would last more than a couple months, maybe a year at best, is laughable. but how else do you explain sudden firings with no advanced notice over zoom?.
of course with the chat disabled; who wants to hear from queer people in distress? much less your employees! or, i'm sorry-
The folks hired via Insight Global to provide services
to Trevor are not Trevor employees.
-Peggy Rajski, June 2023
The Trevor Project Doesn't Give A Shit About You
fuck, we haven't even gotten to the union busting part of this piece that's ostensibly about union busting, these aren't even the firings i set out to talk about in the first place!
According to the federal agency, this iteration of the pilot program
—i.e. hiring contracted workers specifically through The Trevor Project—
was always intended to come to a close in July, transitioning into a
more distributed labor network across the country.
But spokespeople for both the Trevor Project and Insight Global
claim that they were not aware the federal monies came with an
expiration date.
“A couple weeks ago, we learned that the federal funding received
from Vibrant Emotional Health for 988 LGBTQ specialized services
would be redistributed,” said Stephen Menon, Chief Clinical Operations
Officer at The Trevor Project, in an emailed statement to Them.
Menon stated that the change “also caused a need to reduce the number
of 988 contractors supporting our work, employed by Insight Global.”
as i've been trying to make clear through writing these pieces, no single person is the issue at The Trevor Project. peggy naming a new CEO isn't going to fix the damage that has been done, it isn't going to make the corporation behave like a charity
The Trevor Project's management has a fundamentally flawed ideology in regards mental health care: they think growth is more important than quality.
In the face of this difficult moment, as always, we are
unwavering in our commitment to Trevor’s mission to
end suicide among LGBTQ young people. And to advance
our mission, we must grow a sustainable future for our
organization.
-Trevor Project Leadership to laid
off contractors, June 2023
YOU DO NOT NEED TO FUCKING GROW. THAT'S THE FUCKING PROBLEM!
crisse de tabarnak, approaching mental health 'at scale' means getting more humans involved! it means not continuing to fund to the company that refuses to do just that!
the goal for 988 is to have more employees in more places, so SAMHSA gave the funding to more employees in more places. the trevor project boldly advertises how it wasted all its money on AI, on tech, on fucking "product development".
your ceo for years was a consultant for Old Man Opiates L.P.
why would the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, ever want you to be their primary contractor?
We don’t see AI playing a role with 988 as it relates to the call.
We want people to be connected to another person – so rather
that’s via the call, text or chat.
Right now, we’re not interested in seeing how AI can work with
people that are reaching out to be connected. We want people
to have a human contact in these moments that are very distressful
for people who are often reaching out.
-Monica Johnson, Director of 988 Lifeline,
to CNN, July 2023
The Trevor Project spent millions on AI to train its counselors and to redirect texts from suicidal children.
i am firmly of the belief at this point that, without massive overhaul, The Trevor Project in its current state is actively harmful. if you'll excuse me, i'll be digging through their taxes.
(part 5 when it's FUCKING ready.)
