Los Angeles County will return an estimated $15 million in unspent mental health grants intended to keep vulnerable people from landing in hospital and jails.
It seemed like any other night. Silverio Lujan’s teenage daughter was distant and listless. Then, before he knew it, she had a fistful of pills and a knife in her hand and threatened to end her life.After an evaluation, an intensive-care team from a local nonprofit quickly intervened with Lujan, 34, and his 13-year-old daughter. For three months after the February episode, the team wrapped itself into the lives of the South L.A. family. Both father and daughter received therapy.
Officials with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, however, said they were underwhelmed by the teams’ performance. Goldfinger described what he called a history of foot-dragging within the mental health department, often driven by internal politics related to staffing. The dispute over how L.A. handled the triage teams highlights how counties in California fund mental health services, which frequently involves new ideas being funded temporarily then abandoned as county leaders fail to come up with plans to sustain them before the money dries up.for local mental health departments.
To do this, a trio of mental health professionals would enter an individual’s world, meeting them where they were — which was often a street corner or their living room. Then they’d embark together on the journey of accessing care in an often-opaque system, with team members holding them — and often their families — as they languished on waitlists that could stretch months.
Many of those services — such as crisis phone counseling and mobile teams — are reactive: waiting for the fire to start and then rushing to extinguish it, Hitchcock said. By contrast, the triage teams aimed to prevent. But Jennifer Hallman, alternative crisis response manager for the mental health department, said department officials weren’t impressed with the number of adults and children the triage teams connected to services.
Many people referred to the program couldn’t be reached at all. Severely mentally ill adults living on the streets could be particularly hard to locate, providers said, while children tend to have a more engaged caregiver to facilitate the connection.Quick help for suicide thoughts and other mental health emergencies will soon be as easy as 9-8-8.
Without the programs, “it’s hard to imagine what will happen to all the people that we are helping, particularly the mentally ill adults,” Singer wrote in a Feb. 11 email. “Let’s not return to a world where those who need it the most fall through the cracks in a broken system.” Top staffers with two of the contracted providers did not identify hiring as a problem. Instead, they say, the department did not allow them to receive referrals from a wide variety of sources — including schools, hospitals and police departments — which would have greatly expanded the number of people they could help.
日本 最新ニュース, 日本 見出し
Similar News:他のニュース ソースから収集した、これに似たニュース記事を読むこともできます。
Swiss National Bank posts $15 billion loss during second quarterThe Swiss National Bank posted a second quarter loss of 13.20 billion Swiss francs ($15.14 billion), it said on Monday, as interest rate hikes by other central banks dented the value of its massive bond holdings.
続きを読む »
Clay County announces new road construction project from First Coast Expressway to County Rd. 315According to the officials, this new east-west route will not only provide a smooth commute but will also include a much-needed bridge over ecologically sensitive wetland areas, ensuring minimal disruption to the environment.
続きを読む »
Angels vs. Blue Jays prediction: Los Angeles the pick in this spotThe visiting Angels will beat the Blue Jays on Saturday, Stitches predicts.
続きを読む »
Los Angeles Public Health Dept. Issues Beach Advisory, Says No Swimming In A Dozen LocationsLos Angeles County has temperatures in the 90s, but officials are asking the public to stay out of the water at a dozen Los Angeles County beaches. High levels of bacteria have been detected at the…
続きを読む »