LA City Council Approves Motion to Improve Homeless Outreach Efforts
By City News Service
Published April 6, 2021
With funding for additional homeless outreach workers already approved, the Los Angeles City Council today approved a motion to improve the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s outreach program.
The motion, which was introduced by Councilwoman Nithya Raman and Councilmen Paul Krekorian and Curren Price, passed 14-0. It will build on the council’s funding to LAHSA for an additional 15 outreach teams to join its existing 200 teams focused on connecting unhoused Angelenos with housing and services.
LAHSA logo (File Photo)
“It is imperative that all interactions performed by LAHSA, service providers, county and city staff be integrated and coordinated with the newoutreach engagement teams, as we work to place individuals into the 6,700 new beds coming online throughout the city, so that we create a more seamless transition process for homeless indivi
To say that 2020 was a turbulent year would be a vast understatement.
Millions of people were told to stay at home in the face of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in millions of lost jobs and an immeasurable toll on the educational and emotional wellbeing of millions more young people across the nation. Couple this with one of the most polarizing elections in history, and even the most mundane of events becomes a powder keg for frustration and anxiety (looking at you toilet paper hoarders).
Unsurprisingly, the events of 2020 all contributed to an overall decline in the mental health of not just the Santa Clarita Valley, but Los Angeles County as a whole. The number of reported mental health crises and suicides both rose, and officials say they are likely to continue rising into 2021.
By City News Service
Feb 10, 2021
LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The Los Angeles Police Department has begun a program to dispatch a mental health response team, consisting of a sworn officer and a Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health clinician, to certain mental health calls, Assistant Chief Horace Frank announced today.
The program, which is led by the police department s Mental Evaluation Unit, launched on Monday, Frank told the Police Commission.
The unit s Systemwide Mental Assessment Response Team, consisting of a mental health clinician and sworn officer, will respond to mental health calls that meet specific criteria, according to Frank. Previously, SMART units were used as secondary responders, but will now serve as co-responders with patrol units for certain calls.