{"id":80637,"date":"2026-05-07T19:41:46","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T02:41:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=80637"},"modified":"2026-05-07T19:41:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T02:41:46","slug":"lacdmh-offers-year-round-services-for-aanhpi-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=80637","title":{"rendered":"LACDMH Offers Year-Round Services for AANHPI Communities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: medium;\"><strong>LOS ANGELES, CA<\/strong> \u2014 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.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: medium;\">\u201cLanguage and culture can be powerful tools for building community connections throughout Los Angeles County, and reaching those who may need mental health support,\u201d said LACDMH Director Lisa H. Wong, Psy.D. \u201cWhether someone is looking for help for themselves or a loved one, we have trained and caring staff who can help in a variety of languages, from many different cultural backgrounds. Our doors and Help Line are always here to provide the resources and support needed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: medium;\">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.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: medium;\">LACDMH provides services in clients\u2019 primary languages, including, but not limited to, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Korean, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Tagalog, Hindi, Samoan, Tongan and Khmer (Cambodian).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: medium;\">The Department offers a range of culturally and linguistically appropriate programs and services for AANHPI community members, including:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: medium;\"><em>Tea Time<\/em>: 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.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: medium;\"><em>Jewelry-Making with Peers<\/em>: 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.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: medium;\"><em>Boba Break<\/em>: A support group that meets on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month at the Azusa Youth &amp; Family Center, offering boba drinks and a safe place for youths and families to prioritize mental health and wellbeing with positivity.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: medium;\"><em>Coastal Asian Pacific Islander (API) Mental Health Clinic<\/em>: A Korean-language parent support group that provides psychoeducation and promotes engagement in mental health services for families supporting adult children living with schizophrenia.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: medium;\"><em>Koreatown Mental Health Clinic<\/em>: 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.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: medium;\"><em>Long Beach API Mental Health Clinic<\/em>: A weekly support group for Khmer-speaking clients designed to reduce social isolation and enhance community connectedness.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: medium;\"><em>API Underserved Cultural Community<\/em>: A monthly stakeholder convening that provides input on program development, service delivery, and strategies to improve outreach and engagement among underserved AANHPI populations.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: medium;\">As part of its broader community engagement and stigma reduction efforts, LACDMH also hosted a screening and panel discussion in December 2025 for the film &#8220;Rosemead,&#8221; moderated by LACDMH Director Lisa H. Wong, Psy.D., which included the film\u2019s director Eric Lin, and actors Lucy Liu and Lawrence Shou. The panel highlighted the intersection of storytelling, cultural identity and mental health, and underscored the importance of increasing awareness and dialogue within AANHPI communities.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: medium;\">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\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/links-1.govdelivery.com\/CL0\/https:%2F%2Fdmh.lacounty.gov%2F\/1\/0100019e04c58026-7d82dc7d-ed71-4d1c-bbef-7b9be73b6e9a-000000\/LPC3c5TE62BNE-3KI8foNTqnSXSxm-OGHg6n3MM_w-s=452\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/links-1.govdelivery.com\/CL0\/https:%252F%252Fdmh.lacounty.gov%252F\/1\/0100019e04c58026-7d82dc7d-ed71-4d1c-bbef-7b9be73b6e9a-000000\/LPC3c5TE62BNE-3KI8foNTqnSXSxm-OGHg6n3MM_w-s%3D452&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1778293839716000&amp;usg=AOvVaw25842yxeUSokKfRk5aX3Tg\">dmh.lacounty.gov<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>LOS ANGELES, CA \u2014 The Los&#46;&#46;&#46;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-80637","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ca-local","category-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=80637"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80637\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80638,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80637\/revisions\/80638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=80637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=80637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=80637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}