H.R. 5434 — 988 LGBTQ+ Youth Access Act of 2025

This section states congressional findings that (1) 45% of high school students who seriously considered attempting suicide in 2021 identified as LGBTQ+, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; (2) specialized services for LGBTQ+ youth within the 988 Suicide Prevention and Crisis Lifeline have received over 1,500,000 calls, texts, and chats since launch, averaging 2,200 contacts per day as of May 2025; and (3) LGBTQ+ youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide than peers, with such services providing training addressing their specific challenges.

This section amends the requirements for grants under the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline program (i.e., a 24/7 toll-free hotline providing suicide prevention and crisis counseling services) to include dedicating sufficient resources, including establishing, re-establishing, operating, and maintaining specialized services (known as the Press 3 option or Integrated Voice Response (IVR)), for the support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (LGBTQ+) youth. It further requires the Secretary to reserve not less than 9% of amounts appropriated for the program for carrying out this new requirement.