Connecting Our Community: News & Updates

In April 2023, the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (DMH) was awarded $97.5 million from the California Department of Social Services to implement the Community Care Expansion (CCE) – Preservation program, with an additional $11.2 million in Mental Health Services Act funds secured as the required local match.

Established by Assembly Bill 172, the CCE program provides $805 million statewide to acquire, construct, and renovate licensed adult and senior care facilities serving low-income individuals, including those experiencing or at risk of homelessness. The Preservation program includes two components: Capital Projects (CP) for facility upgrades, and Operating Subsidy Payments (OSP) to support ongoing operations. DMH partnered with the Los Angeles County Development Authority (LACDA) to administer the capital projects portion. On January 22, 2024, LACDA released a funding solicitation in partnership with DMH.

In August of 2024, Homes for Life Foundation (HFLF) was awarded CCE – CP funds for its Harvest House

Adult Residential Facility. Since opening on December 11, 1991, Harvest House has provided essential residential care for individuals living with mental illness in Service Area 7. With CCE funding, the facility underwent critical renovations including a new roof, energy-efficient windows, modern HVAC system, new flooring, and widened hallways and bathrooms to better accommodate residents with mobility challenges.

Thanks to this investment, Harvest House is not only upgraded for long-term sustainability, but continues to fulfill its mission: providing healing, hope, and a lasting home for life.

“The funding for these upgrades is God-sent,” said Carol Liess, Executive Director, HFLF. “With summer approaching, residents will now enjoy a cooler, more comfortable living environment, and the accessibility improvements mean residents with disabilities can navigate their home with greater ease and dignity.”

Maria Funk, Ph.D., LACDMH Deputy Director, Housing and Job Development, said, “These funds represent an investment in a shared future; one where residential care is not only available and accessible, but thoughtfully designed to meet the needs of our clients and rooted in our communities long into the future. DMH is thankful for our participating CCE facilities and our partnership with the Los Angeles County Development Authority, who has played an integral role in administrating the CCE – CP, ensuring that these renovations are completed quickly and with minimal disruption to residents.”

In April, Harvest House welcomed back residents, who were thrilled to see the new upgrades and partake in the decoration of their new living space.

CCE – Capital Projects: More Impact on the Way

• 24 facilities to be upgraded across L.A. County
  • 11 contracts executed
    • Two facility renovations complete
    • Nine facilities currently in construction
  • 13 pending contract execution
• 1,108 total beds to be preserved
• Hundreds of residents with SMI now have ongoing access to housing and care

For more details, please visit ccegrant.com.

On June 1, the City of West Hollywood kicked off Pride Month with its annual WeHo Pride Parade — and LACDMH was proud to be part of it. Marching alongside over 100 organizations, LACDMH staff brought energy, creativity, and care as they made their way down Santa Monica Boulevard toward the City’s Rainbow District.

Our vibrant float featured LGBTQIA2-S+ flags, colorful balloons, and ten original artworks hand-painted by LACDMH staff from all eight Service Areas, the ARISE (Anti-Racism, Inclusion, Solidarity, and Empowerment) Division, and our Transition Age Youth (TAY) community. Following the float, staff carried banners representing Countywide Programs, LGBTQIA2-S+ Champions, and Service Areas 1-8.

LACDMH also hosted a wellness table where staff shared mental health resources, passed out free giveaways, and invited participants to plant a seed in soil — a simple, symbolic way to reflect on growth, healing, and tending to one’s mental health.

Since 2011, mental health promoters, serving as independent contractors, have conducted outreach and engagement, educational workshops, and linkage and referrals with underserved Spanish-speaking families and community groups throughout Los Angeles County as part of the Promotores de Salud Mental Health Program. This Spanish-language program with contractors is going to sunset on June 30, 2025.

Successes and lessons learned from the Spanish language program informed the development of the current program, currently comprised of over 100 LACDMH staff in the Anti-Racism, Inclusion, Solidarity & Empowerment (ARISE) Division. In 2020, the Board of Supervisors voted to expand the program, becoming the United Mental Health Promoters and reaching additional communities of Los Angeles County, including Black/African Heritage, Asian Pacific Islander, American Indian/Alaska Native, Eastern European/Middle Eastern, LGBTQIA2-S, and Individuals with Disabilities.

This multicultural, multilingual workforce serves diverse communities with heart. Promoters conduct outreach, assist with events, facilitate 90-minute workshops on 13 key topics in mental health, reducing stigma, and increasing access to care. These resourceful, dedicated staff build trust with community members, speak the same language, and share their passion for mental wellness.

For more information on the United Mental Health Promoters Program, please visit: dmh.lacounty.gov/mental-health-resources/united-mental-health-promoters.

Submitted by LACDMH ARISE Division

The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health’s (LACDMH) Gloria Mendez, Psychiatric Social Worker II and Brian Navarro, Psychiatric Social Worker II, led the Service Areas 4 and 5 Clergy Collaborations to Los Angeles’ Holocaust Museum in Pan Pacific Park on May 22. The event’s highlights were hearing from Joe Alexander, a 102-year-old Holocaust survivor, artifact donations, and a museum tour. 

Alexander, a U.S. resident since 1949, was a 16-year-old Polish Jew when the Nazis invaded in 1938. His family was forcibly displaced to the Warsaw Ghetto before he was sent to the first of many concentration camps. Throughout his time in different concentration camps, Alexander went face-to-face with the “Angel of Death,” Josef Mengele, at Auschwitz. He was sorted by the German officer into a group to be led off for death but miraculously snuck his way from the extermination line into another line for forced labor. Alexander also persevered through death marches and forced labor to survive the war.

Alexander, a U.S. resident since 1949, was a 16-year-old Polish Jew when the Nazis invaded in 1938. His family was forcibly displaced to the Warsaw Ghetto before he was sent to the first of many concentration camps. Throughout his time in different concentration camps, Alexander went face-to-face with the “Angel of Death,” Josef Mengele, at Auschwitz. He was sorted by the German officer into a group to be led off for death but miraculously snuck his way from the extermination line into another line for forced labor. Alexander also persevered through death marches and forced labor to survive the war. 

An emotional audience dabbed at tears as a stoic Alexander rolled up his left sleeve to reveal a tattooed identification number and shared his harrowing tales of overcoming death through hope before being rescued by U.S. soldiers in Landsberg am Lech in 1945.  

“The Americans were there, and I was safe,” Alexander told the Los Angeles Daily News and FBI agents in 2024. “I survived. Hitler didn’t.” 

Eventually, Alexander made his way to Pennsylvania through New York City in 1949 and eventually to Santa Monica in 1950 to live alongside his cousin. 

The event also featured an artifact donation to the Los Angeles Holocaust Museum by Abel Acuna and led by Chaplain Ruth Belonsky, a member of the LACDMH Faith-based Advocacy Council and Service Area 5 Clergy Roundtable. Acuna disclosed to the group that his home was destroyed in the Palisades fire, with only a few remaining memories tucked in storage.  

Acuna’s family survived the Holocaust and moved to Argentina. His aunt passed along a vest and an armband with a golden star — a signifier of being a Jew during the Nazi occupation — which Acuna kindly donated to the museum for preservation. 

There was a shared ominous feeling among visitors who viewed the museum and listened to Alexander. Museum tour guides took LACDMH staff and visitors through exhibits showing how Germany used racism, book burning, propaganda, lies and media manipulation to exterminate Jews, people with disabilities, Poles, Romani, and more. 

The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH) celebrated May is Mental Health Awareness Month with the Take Action for Mental Health L.A. County campaign. The annual celebration highlights the importance of mental health to all communities throughout Los Angeles County and is in partnership with the California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA). 

The Take Action movement promotes wellness and wellbeing while sharing the vast array of resources and services provided by the nation’s largest behavioral health department. The Take Action events bring communities together in wellness and encourages everyone to pay attention to their own needs and those around them. 

This year’s edition featured eight events at local colleges with a final countywide event at Gloria Molina Grand Park. Events took place all around L.A. County — from Lancaster to Wilmington and Santa Monica to Whittier. Every event included free wellness activities such as yoga, meditation, art, music and community resources.  

The 2025 campaign featured high-profile social impact partners, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Sparks, Los Angeles Football Club, Univision, and Meruelo Media. The month-long celebration also featured more than 100 free non-LACDMH celebrations throughout the county hosted by more than 65 community-based organizations. 

Check out the Take Action campaign’s site at TakeActionLA.com. 

LACDMH’s Alternative Crisis Response (ACR) program launched an awareness campaign this month to make County residents aware of the Department’s non-law enforcement mental health crisis support teams. The campaign features members of the program’s Field Intervention Teams (FIT) to foster trust in the County’s first responders for mental health crisis support.

IDEO, an international design and innovation firm, designed the campaign that features a revamped webpage, public awareness videos available on YouTube, billboards, posters, and social media assets, highlighting FIT members who apply their skills and experience with mental health in helping individuals and families during a crisis.

The Department’s ACR team is a unique operation of field workers who are dispatched through the department’s 24/7 Help Line and 988. When appropriate, FIT members are called to a scene in pairs with one mental health clinician and one community health worker in plain clothes. Once on-site, the team engages with family members or loved ones to stabilize and de-escalate the situation.

The program is coming off its most successful year to date. In 2024, FIT members were dispatched 21,000 times which is up 35% from 2023 with 94% of those calls resolved without law enforcement involvement. To meet increasing Countywide demand for this resource, the ACR Program has doubled capacity over the last two years to include 71 FIT teams.

This year marks the 10^th anniversary of the Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) Program, also known as Laura’s Law. Enacted after the tragic death of Laura Wilcox in 2001, AOT was created to support individuals living with severe mental illness who are at significant risk of decline or detention due to poor treatment adherence.

AOT focuses on engaging those with repeated hospitalizations, incarcerations, or a history of harm to self or others. The program starts with intensive outreach, encouraging voluntary treatment. If efforts are unsuccessful, AOT may petition for court-ordered treatment to ensure safety and stability. Ultimately, the goal is to reduce hospitalizations and law enforcement encounters by connecting individuals to long-term support through Full-Service Partnership (FSP) or Enriched Residential Services (ERS).

Over the past decade, AOT has bridged the gap between the mental health system and those most in need. By fostering collaboration between the courts, County Counsel, Public Defender’s Office, Patients’ Rights advocates, law enforcement, and mental health providers, AOT offers a more coordinated and compassionate path to recovery.

None of this would be possible without the dedication of AOT staff. Elida Fuentes, a Medical Case Worker with the Little Tokyo team, has been part of this journey for five years. She highlights how stigma often prevents individuals from seeking help. Through consistent outreach and trust-building, she’s seen people once resistant to care begin their mental health recovery.

Fuentes emphasizes that success often hinges on relationships. “When clients know you’re genuinely there for them,” she said, “It can break down walls and open the door to healing.” Her compassionate, non-threatening approach has proven especially effective with those who’ve had negative past experiences with treatment. For Fuentes, this work is deeply meaningful — and she is grateful to witness the change.

For the last 10 years, AOT has stood beside those often unseen and underserved, offering hope, support, and a path toward a better quality of life.

Know someone who might benefit from AOT? Submit a referral today. Let us help — there is hope.

For questions related to AOT, please email AOTLAOE@dmh.lacounty.gov or call 213-738-2440. The AOT-LA Website includes details about the AOT program, the referral form, and brochures in multiple languages.

Submitted by:
Ulma Romero-Garcia LCSW, Psychiatric Social Worker II
Venus Ngai LMFT, Program Manager I

Commentaries from the Edge: Mental Health on the Frontlines

Episode #13: Bac Luu at LAPD Headquarters

Good news from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD): A partnership, decades in the making is changing how mental health crises are handled. Bac Luu, a Mental Health Clinical Program Manager I with DMH, shares insights on how embedding mental health professionals within the LAPD is improving outcomes for both law enforcement and the community.

Since 1993, programs like the Systemwide Mental Health Assessment Response Teams (SMART) and Case Assessment Management Program (CAMP) have paired police officers with mental health professionals to respond to crises. Over the years, this collaboration has expanded, earning national and international recognition. Luu continues the work pioneered by Chuck Lennon, proving that teamwork between policing and mental health services benefits everyone.

Episode #14: Reuben Wilson & the 988 Crisis Lifeline

LACDMH’s “Who Do I Call for Help?” campaign highlights the importance of 988 — a 24/7 national crisis number providing immediate support. Reuben Wilson, head of the Alternative Crisis Response (ACR) Unit, explains how this initiative diverts mental health emergencies from law enforcement to trained professionals.

With years of experience in crisis response, Wilson is leading efforts to expand awareness of ACR and 988 across Los Angeles County. In partnership with Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services, DMH ensures that those in distress always have someone to call, someone to respond, and somewhere to go for continued care.

Episode #15-16: Miriam Brown and Francisco Tan

As May as Mental Health Awareness Month approaches, so does our focus on community emergency outreach at the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH). One thing is clear: innovation is making a real difference.

The final two episodes of our podcast features Francisco Tan, psychologist and head of LACDMH’s Psychiatric Mobile Response Team (PMRT), who takes us into the field to explain how his eight Teams operate. Each team may include a social worker, nurse, community health worker, and often a peer — someone with lived experience of emotional distress. Available 24/7, PMRT can be reached at (800) 854-7771. Teams respond directly to individuals in crisis, providing on-site evaluation, collaboration with other agencies, consultation, and connections to ongoing care. Their primary goal is to help individuals remain in their communities with the support they need — a goal shared across LACDMH’s Emergency Outreach and Triage Division.

At the helm of this division is Miriam Brown, Deputy Director of Emergency Outreach and Triage. With deep experience and unwavering dedication, Miriam brings a broad vision to how LACDMH responds to emergencies across Los Angeles. Her leadership has helped position the department as a national model for mental health crisis response.

Miriam acknowledges that it takes a certain kind of person to face the relentless challenges of emergency mental health outreach — work that often requires coordination with police, fire, public health, probation, schools, and community organizations. For decades, she has cultivated strong partnerships with these agencies to ensure the best possible outcomes for those in crisis.

The scope of her team’s work is vast: school threat assessments, mental health-related criminal behavior, volatile family disputes, individuals exhibiting high-risk behavior, and more. This outreach reflects LACDMH’s proactive commitment to reaching every corner of the community — to prevent unnecessary incarceration or hospitalization and to help people with mental illness live safely and with dignity.

Miriam’s steady leadership continues to make Los Angeles a healthier, more compassionate place.

Click here to listen to Commentaries from the Edge on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Click here to read about episodes 1-2, 3-8, and 9-12.