The Los Angeles Post

LACDMH HOLDS GRAND OPENING FOR HIGH DESERT MENTAL HEALTH CENTER

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LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH) held a grand opening for the High Desert Mental Health Center (MHC) to provide mental health services and resources to the Antelope Valley community.

The High Desert MHC, located at 415 East Avenue I in Lancaster, Calif., features a Crisis Residential Treatment Program, Crisis Stabilization Unit and Mental Health Hub to provide a broad range of supports in an integrated, wholistic setting for people experiencing mental health challenges.

“These new facilities are a gamechanger for the Antelope Valley,” said Los Angeles County Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger. “For the first time, children, families, and adults experiencing a mental health crisis won’t have to leave their community to find help. This campus provides meaningful alternatives to unnecessary emergency room visits and hospitalizations, and it will help ensure that individuals struggling with mental illness are stabilized, supported, and kept off the streets.”

“This is a major milestone in Los Angeles County’s commitment to building a compassionate, modern and integrated system of care,” said LACDMH Director Lisa H. Wong, Psy.D. “Today represents the culmination of years of planning, collaboration and a shared belief that every person in our County deserves dignity, safety and a real path to recovery.”

The High Desert MHC is designed to replace fragmented systems so clients can receive comprehensive, person-centered and culturally-responsive care in a central setting, optimizing their ability to heal and recover. The High Desert MHC also helps reduce unnecessary emergency calls, hospitalizations and incarcerations by addressing mental health challenges and crises before they worsen into personal and public safety issues.

“This is a powerful example of how state and local partnerships can deliver meaningful change,” said California Department of Health Care Services Director Michelle Baass. “Through the Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program, California is investing in facilities that bring dignity, stability, and healing to communities. We are proud to support Los Angeles County’s vision for integrated care that meets people where they are — with compassion and purpose.”

Key features of the High Desert MHC include:

  • Crisis Residential Treatment Program (CRTP): This is the first adult CRTP in the Antelope Valley. With 16 beds to provide a short-term alternative to hospitalization, this program is critical for adults needing care beyond what a mental health urgent care center can offer. LACDMH anticipates this CRTP to serve 275 to 400 adults annually.
  • Crisis Stabilization Unit (CSU): Serving children and youth clients in the Antelope Valley, this CSU gives families a resource much closer than the nearest CSU in Sylmar, which is 50 miles away. This CSU will see nearly 3,000 children and youth each year and offer an alternative to emergency room visits and hospitalization.
  • Mental Health Hub: Expands the outpatient and community-based programs already operating at the High Desert Regional Health Center, which currently serves 850 individuals per year. The Hub will grow this capacity and is expected to serve more than 2,600 people annually.

The High Desert MHC is made possible by support and funding from multiple sources, including County general funds and more than $43 million awarded from California’s Mental Health Services Act and the Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program.

The High Desert MHC is open Monday to Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. To inquire about services at this MHC or other programs serving Antelope Valley and throughout Los Angeles County, call LACDMH’s 24/7 Help Line at (800) 854-7771.