LACDMH LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN TO RAISE AWARENESS OF ITS NON-LAW ENFORCEMENT MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS SUPPORT TEAMS
he Department’s Mental Health First Responder Teams Are Available 24/7
LOS ANGELES, CA — The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH) launched a new campaign this month to increase awareness of the Department’s Alternative Crisis Response (ACR) Program and to foster trust in the program’s Field Intervention Teams (FIT) which serve as the County’s first responders for mental health crisis support.
“Ensuring that individuals in mental health crises receive the proper care and support they need is essential for the well-being of our communities and is critical in supporting the County’s commitment to a Care First approach,” said Los Angeles County Chair Pro Tem and First District County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis. “The launch of the Alternative Crisis Response campaign will help raise awareness of our Field Intervention Teams, which provide immediate, compassionate, and professional mental health assistance, 24/7. By expanding these services, we are creating a safer, more supportive environment for those in need and allowing law enforcement to focus on other public safety priorities.”
“For too long, 9-1-1 was the only place to call for help when someone experienced a mental health crisis. Now, the County has teams of unarmed, trained mental health professionals who are responding directly to people in crisis — twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week,” said Fourth District County Supervisor Janice Hahn. “By encouraging more people to call these teams, we can not only get more people mental healthcare and treatment, we can allow law enforcement to focus where they are truly needed.”
Developed with IDEO, the media campaign consists of a public awareness video, billboards, posters, social media assets, and an updated webpage at dmh.lacounty.gov/acr, highlighting various FIT members who apply their skills and experience with mental health in helping individuals and families during a crisis.
“Through this campaign, LACDMH is able to feature our compassionate mental health professionals who arrive at your doorstep when there is a mental health emergency,” said LACDMH Director Dr. Lisa H. Wong. “From registered nurses and psychologists to community health workers and social workers, our caring and skilled team members provide a calming presence. We feel it is vitally important to increase the public’s awareness of this resource and emphasize the need to provide individuals in crisis with an alternative to a law enforcement response, 24/7, anywhere in the County.”
In L.A. County, mental health crisis support is accessible through the Department’s 24/7 Help Line at 800-854-7771. The Help Line offers local crisis support, appointments and referrals, substance use disorder services, and veteran and military family support. After contact through the Help Line, call center team members will determine the best resource to help the individual, and, if appropriate, dispatch FIT members to the caller’s location.
“FIT arrives in pairs with one mental health clinician and one community health worker – without sirens, in plain clothes and with an L.A. County ID badge,” said Reuben Wilson, ACR Program Implementation Manager. “Once on-site, the team engages with family members or loved ones and the person in crisis to better understand the situation, de-escalate the crisis and stabilize the scene. The team will determine the next steps for best keeping them safe.”
After de-escalating the situation, the ACR Program provides care in the least restrictive level of care possible. If needed, people experiencing a mental health crisis may go to a psychiatric urgent care for short-term stabilization or a crisis residential treatment program for rehabilitative and psychiatric support services.
LACDMH’s ACR 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.
