NYC Plans to Allocate Nearly $9 Million to Youth Trans Care

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is planning to allocate $8.9 million to healthcare nonprofits in the city to provide gender-affirming care services to patients under 18. The move comes in light of several major hospital systems in the metropolis ceasing their transgender youth health programs over the last year in response to mounting pressure from the Trump administration, leaving some trans youth in New York City with diminished access to care.Per a city record from the NYC Department of Health posted online October 6, the department plans to pursue a negotiated acquisition with the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center and the Nonprofit Organization for Philanthropic Initiatives (NOPI), which would direct nearly $9 million to vendors that provide services like hormone blockers and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to trans patients under 18 in a three-year contract. That contract is slated to begin February 1, 2027. The funding comes as advocates, organizers, and medical professionals have warned of the gaps in care created for trans youth across the country as hospital systems have capitulated to the Trump administration and stopped providing gender-affirming care, despite longstanding care guidelines for trans minors that advise otherwise. Soon after returning to office in January 2025, Trump signed a sweeping executive order threatening federal funding for medical institutions that provided gender-affirming care for minors. Though the order was ultimately struck down, the Justice Department subsequently issued 20 subpoenas to hospitals across the country for providing gender-affirming care. Private hospital systems have shuttered their care programs for trans minors in response, including in blue states like New York that boast of robust anti-discrimination protections, agreeing to pay large sums to the DOJ and, in some cases, establish “detransition clinics.” Hospital giants like Mount Sinai, NYU Langone Health, and New York Presb