Connecting Our Community: News & Updates

To celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month, LACDMH’s fourth annual Take Action for Mental Health L.A. County campaign continues to highlight and promote the importance of mental health and wellbeing throughout Los Angeles County with numerous events and activations throughout May. LACDMH kicked off with a Countywide celebration at Earvin “Magic” Johnson Park on May 3, followed by eight regional festivals at community colleges within each of our service areas throughout the rest of the month. These Department-hosted events featured free wellness services, live entertainment, creative activities and access to wellbeing resources. Select photos from this year’s events are available on our Flickr album.

Additionally, LACDMH have provided $2.1M in grants to 84 community organizations that offered 137 in-person and virtual events throughout the County and partnered with high-profile organizations — including the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Football Club, Univision, and Meruelo Media — to raise awareness of this campaign.

We thank everyone who joined us for this year’s Take Action activities. To learn more, check out the video below and this YouTube playlist recapping each LACDMH-hosted event.

The Seventeenth Statewide Conference, themed “Brighter Together,” was a multidisciplinary conference between physical health, mental health and substance use disorder treatment systems that took place at the Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City on April 21 and 22.  

Formerly known as the Integrated Care Conference, the two-day event provided plenary sessions and workshops to participants from academia, industry and government, promoting partnerships and sharing knowledge. The conference is a collaboration between the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH), the Los Angeles County Departments of Health Services and Public Health, UCLA Integrated Substance Use & Addiction Programs, LACDMH + UCLA Public Mental Health Partnership, and the California Department of State Hospitals.  

The plenary talks on day one were “Housing, Health and Hope” by Heidi Behforouz, M.D., LACDMH’s Chief Medical Officer for Los Angeles County’s Homeless Services and Housing; and “Possibility through Purpose: The Road to Workforce Wellness” by Jeremy Segall, Chief Wellness Officer at NYC Health + Hospitals and Charmaine Dorsey, LCSW, Chief Wellness Officer for Los Angeles County’s Department of Health Services.  

Day two featured a panel discussion, themed “Supporting Adolescent Behavioral Health in California: Challenges and Emerging Opportunities.” The panel featured Howard Padwa, Ph.D., health services and qualitative researcher at UCLA’s Integrated Substance Abuse Programs; Rachel Castaneda, Ph.D., Research Psychologist and Professor at the Azusa Pacific University Department of Psychology; Toby Guevin, Program Manager for the Health & Wellness Division of Nevada County’s Public Health Department; Erica Reynoso, Ph.D., LCSW, Mental Health Program Manager III; Joseph Rao, freelance filmmaker for Perseverance Studio; and, Scott Hunter, M.D., LACDMH Health Psychiatrist. 

The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH) is highlighting year-round, in-language services and culturally aware programs for Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) communities in recognition of May as AANHPI Heritage Month. 

In the past year, LACDMH served 7,573 individuals identifying as AANHPI in outpatient mental health services, representing 3.6% of all outpatient clients. In contrast, approximately 1.4 million residents in Los Angeles County identify as Asian, yet only 2.85% accessed outpatient mental health services. These data indicate persistent disparities in service utilization, which may be associated with barriers such as stigma, limited awareness of services, and gaps in culturally and linguistically appropriate care. 

LACDMH provides services in clients’ primary languages, including, but not limited to, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Tagalog, Hindi, Samoan, Tongan and Khmer (Cambodian). 

The Department offers a range of culturally and linguistically appropriate programs and services for AANHPI community members, including: 

• Tea Time: A weekly support group hosted every Tuesday at the Langley Senior Center in Monterey Park focused on reducing social isolation and improving overall wellbeing among older adults. 

• Jewelry-Making with Peers: A twice-a-month support group that meets on the first and third Wednesdays at the Langley Senior Center in Monterey Park. Attendees are creatively inspired and provided with emotional support while building positive peer connections and developing healthy coping skills. 

• Boba Break: A support group that meets on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month at the Azusa Youth & Family Center, offering boba drinks and a safe place for youths and families to prioritize mental health and wellbeing with positivity. 

• Coastal Asian Pacific Islander (API) Mental Health Clinic: A Korean-language parent support group that provides psychoeducation and promotes engagement in mental health services for families supporting adult children living with schizophrenia. 

• Koreatown Mental Health Clinic: A weekly tri-lingual (Korean, Spanish and English) arts and crafts group where attendees receive emotional support while fostering meaningful connections and developing resilience strategies. The clinic also hosts a weekly Korean-language family-to-family support group that provides mental health education for families supporting adult loved ones living with a mental health diagnosis. 

• Long Beach Asian Pacific Islander Mental Health Clinic: A weekly support group for Khmer-speaking clients designed to reduce social isolation and enhance community connectedness. 

• Asian Pacific Islander (API) Underserved Cultural Community: A monthly stakeholder convening that provides input on program development, service delivery, and strategies to improve outreach and engagement among underserved AANHPI populations. 

While LACDMH recognizes AANHPI Heritage Month as an opportunity to elevate awareness, the Department provides culturally and linguistically appropriate services throughout the year for all Los Angeles County residents. LACDMH encourages individuals to access the 24/7 Help Line for Mental Health and Substance Use Services at (800) 854-7771, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, walk-in clinics, peer resource centers, and services delivered in partnership with County agencies and community-based organizations. For additional information, visit dmh.lacounty.gov. 

On March 27, the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH) joined L.A. County’s 2nd District Supervisor Holly Mitchell, Los Angeles County Development Authority, Coalition for Responsible Community Development, and Little Tokyo Service Center (LTSC) to celebrate the grand opening of Dean’s Place, a 57-unit permanent housing community in South Los Angeles. Named after late LTSC executive director Dean Matsubayashi, Dean’s Place will provide housing and supportive services for people experiencing homelessness and serious mental illness so they can heal, recover, and thrive in a community setting.

Watch this video to check out that day’s festivities, including remarks from our Service Area 8 District Chief Jennifer Bailey Hernandez. Learn more about Dean’s Place on this LTSC webpage.

LACDMH Service Area 2 hosted the Eighth Annual Armenian Genocide: Transgenerational Effects & Healing remembrance event on Saturday, April 11, at ACF Beshir Mardirossian Burbank Youth Center. This year’s theme was Healing & Coping.

The event brought together community members, mental health clinicians and Burbank elected officials to discuss the transgenerational trauma caused by the Armenian genocide.

Opening remarks were given by Mariam Nahapetyan; Rima Safaryan; Service Area 2 Chief Antonio Banuelos, LCSW; Jorge Partida Del Toro, Psy.D.; Burbank City Mayor Tamala Takahashi, LMFT; and Burbank Councilmember Konstantine Anthony. It also featured a keynote presentation by Christina Soibatian, Ph.D., Carrying Our Stories, Reclaiming Our Strength: Healing Across Generations.

Fred Sarkisyan from Veterans of Armenia gave a brief presentation on the organization’s efforts in Armenia.

The event showcased several cultural performances by R. Mat Dance Studio, songs by Peter Haig and a Kanun performance by Nairi Achabahian. Attendees were treated to a traditional Armenian catered lunch.

The program concluded with clinician-led small group discussions focused on healing among third-and fourth-generation descendants. Participants shared common experiences of anxiety and belonging, while emphasizing resilience and the enduring influence of culture through stories, food, music and media.

On March 6, LACDMH joined Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn, State Senator Bob Archuleta and our state, local and community partners, to break ground on Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk to transform its vacant buildings into the LA County Care Community that will provide housing and mental health services. Once completed, this project will provide 162 beds across multiple levels of care for people experiencing serious mental illness and homelessness.

The LA County Care Community is made possible by Senate Bill 1336, authored by Senator Archuleta, which allows California to lease the State-owned site and buildings to L.A. County to renovate and repurpose for this first-of-its-kind coordinated care setting. The project is also made possible with $65 million in funding from Proposition 1, which finances behavioral health treatment infrastructure, including housing facilities. Additional State and County funds finance an additional $41 million for this project.

Components of LA County Care Community include:

• Two Mental Health Rehabilitation Centers for young adults (ages 18 to 25) with acute mental health needs requiring intensive clinical care in a secure setting.
• One Interim Housing Facility for young adults who are more stabilized but still require short-term housing and mental health services.
• Two Permanent Supportive Housing Facilities for adults experiencing mental illness and homelessness who need stable, long-term housing with access to ongoing care.
• A multipurpose building that provides wellness, case management and communal spaces to support residents’ wellbeing needs, along with property management and administrative offices for Care Community operations.
• Outdoor spaces offering recreational and therapeutic opportunities to promote healing and recovery.

“This campus brings together permanent supportive housing, interim housing, subacute care, and psychiatric health services together in one location where we are creating a true continuum of care — meeting people where they are and walking alongside them on their path to stability and recovery,” said LACDMH Director Lisa H. Wong, Psy.D., who spoke and participated in the groundbreaking ceremony. “We are deeply grateful for the support of our Board of Supervisors, and specifically Supervisor Janice Hahn, for championing this special project and helping bring this vision to life.”

The first phase of the remodeling is expected to be completed by late 2027.

To watch the video, click here or see below:

Los Angeles news stations CBS Los Angeles, ABC 7 and Spectrum News 1 joined the Service Area 4 Peer Resource Center and Long Beach Mental Health for Drumming for Your Life sessions to highlight DMH programming. During March and April, the news stations visited to film staff and participants, highlighting how drumming is helping our clients.   

As a DMH partner, the Drumming for Your Life Institute is a local nonprofit that uses the power of rhythm to help children, youth and adults in developing emotional, academic and social skills necessary to succeed. The two specific programs featured in the news stories were the Life Skills Drumming Program and Reading & Rhythm.   

The Life Skills Drumming Program helps relieve stress and develop decision-making and problem-solving skills through drumming. The program also helps build emotional intelligence, community and self-confidence. The Reading & Rhythm program uses repetitive drumbeats to improve fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, word recognition and more. 

The Service Area 4 Peer Resource Center was featured by CBS LA and Spectrum News 1, while Long Beach Mental Health was featured on ABC 7. View the CBS LA feature here. The rest were not made available online for viewing. 

The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH) is excited to announce the 2026 edition of the Take Action for Mental Health L.A. County campaign in May which is recognized as Mental Health Awareness Month. This year’s campaign features nine Department events, including a County-wide kick-off event at Magic Johnson Park from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 3 and one event in each of LACDMH’s service areas. 

This year’s campaign also features 84 local community-based organizations that will host 137 grant-funded, in-person and online events throughout May to encourage people to take action for mental health for themselves and for others. 

Take Action community events are free and include wellness activities such as meditation, sound bath, art activities, community resources and much more. LACDMH is also partnering with high-profile social impact partners, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC), the Los Angeles Lakers, Meruelo Media and Univision, to de-stigmatize mental health and encourage residents to seek help. 

This year’s Department-hosted events are in communities near you: 

Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH) DMH leadership took part in the launch event for A Portrait of Los Angeles County 2026, which took an in-depth look into wellbeing and opportunity in Los Angeles County. The launch event on March 11 featured remarks from Director Lisa H. Wong, Psy.D., and Kalene Gilbert, BHSA Coordinator, and took place at the Alliance for Children’s Rights.

A Portrait of Los Angeles County is the follow-up to a 2017 report of the same name, which assessed people by place, gender and race. The report uses the American Human Development Index to measure data on health, education and income and showed modestly improved results, with significant gains in educational attainment and meaningful increases in median personal earnings.
The project also researched what matters most to County residents. Through in-person and virtual data walks, County residents shared they care most about education, community resources, health, work and wages. The project also allowed residents to voice key concerns and suggest recommendations for improvement based on lived experiences and unique perspectives.

LACDMH was a key funder for this project, which also included support from the James Irvine Foundation, the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Cedars-Sinai and First 5 LA. You can read the press release and discover all the project’s findings on its website.