mental health

Supervisor Hahn urges people experiencing mental health crises to call 988 Lifeline

Pico Rivera, CA — Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn has released the following statement regarding a tragic suicide in Pico Rivera this morning, April 18:

“This morning, the LA County Fire Department responded to a call in Pico Rivera and found a man suffering from burns across his body that were determined to be self-inflicted. He was transported to a nearby hospital, where he tragically succumbed to his injuries.

The man’s identity is being determined, but I am heartbroken knowing he reached the end of his life desperately needing mental health intervention. We have to do a better job finding those who are in need of our help.

If you’re thinking about suicide, or are worried about a friend or loved one, I urge you to call 988. The 988 Lifeline operates 24/7 and is staffed by trained professionals.”

Los Angeles, CA – Mobile teams of LA County mental health professionals will soon be able to provide in-person follow-up care in the days and weeks after a person experiences a mental health crisis. Today, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve a motion authored by Supervisor Janice Hahn accepting a $2.2 million grant from the State and allowing the Department of Mental Health to use the new funding to add new Mobile Response Teams that will provide follow-up care and referral care.

“Over the past few years, we have built up our mental health mobile response teams so we can get humane, professional help directly to people experiencing mental health crises,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn. “Now, with this new funding, we can make sure that in the days, weeks, and months after that initial mental health crisis call, we can get these clients the follow-up care and support they need to get well long-term.”

In recent years, the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health has massively expanded the number of mental health crisis Mobile Response Teams operating countywide. There are now 60 teams made up of trained unarmed mental health professionals that operate 24/7 to directly respond to people experiencing mental health crises.

But until now, there were not enough mobile response teams to provide follow-up care in the days, weeks, and months after the immediate response to the mental health crisis. On March 19, 2024, the State of California awarded the LA County Department of Mental Health an additional $2,200,000. The Department of Mental Health will use these additional funds to expand the mobile crisis response services to include teams dedicated to conducting referral and follow-up care for clients receiving crisis services.

Dedicated referral and follow up teams will be assigned to each of the County’s eight service planning areas (or SPAs) with each team comprised of one medical case worker and one community health worker to expand mobile crisis response services and related infrastructure in the County.

Los Angeles, CA — Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn has released the following statement applauding an announcement by FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel of a proposal to fix how calls to the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline are routed:

“9-8-8 has been a game changer for how we respond to mental health crises in Los Angeles County, but the way calls are routed has caused problems,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn. “While I am grateful to Senator Padilla and Congressman Cardenas for taking up this issue and putting forward a legislative fix, I appreciate that the FCC recognized the problem and didn’t wait for Congress to act. With this announcement, we are one step closer to making sure all LA County residents can get the professional mental health response they need when they need it.”

Background:

Since the 9-8-8 national mental health crisis hotline launched in 2022 it has been accessed by millions of Americans in their moments of need. But the federal legislation that created 9-8-8 designed the number to be routed to call centers based on the area code of the caller’s phone number, rather than the caller’s location. This has presented a problem in Los Angeles County because it is one of the few counties that has set 9-8-8 up to be able to connect to mobile crisis response teams when callers need an in-person response. If someone calls 9-8-8 from their cell phone with an out of county area code, they will not reach the Los Angeles County call center and cannot connect to mobile crisis response teams.

This past year, Supervisor Janice Hahn raised this issue with her former colleagues in Congress both in discussions in Los Angeles and meetings in Washington, D.C., seeking a fix. Both Congressman Tony Cardenas and Senator Alex Padilla have introduced legislation to fix the issue and require 9-8-8 calls to be georouted rather than routed based on a callers area code.

Today, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel announced that the FCC would pursue new rulemaking to put in place georouting without the need for Congress to pass a legislative fix.

Read more on FCC proposal here.

Los Angeles, CA – Today, led by Supervisor Janice Hahn and Supervisor Kathryn Barger, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to support a new Senate bill that would fix an ongoing problem with the way the 9-8-8 mental health and suicide crisis hotline operates. The Local 988 Response Act of 2023, which was introduced by Senator Alex Padilla in December, would require that calls to 9-8-8 be routed to call centers based on the proximity of the caller, not the caller’s area code.

Since the 9-8-8 national mental health crisis hotline launched in 2022 it has been accessed by millions of Americans in their moments of need. But the federal legislation that created 9-8-8 designed the number to be routed to call centers based on the area code of the caller’s phone number, rather than the caller’s location. This has presented a problem in Los Angeles County because it is one of the few counties that has set 9-8-8 up to be able to connect to mobile crisis response teams when callers need an in-person response. If someone calls 9-8-8 from their cell phone with an out of county area code, they will not reach the Los Angeles County call center and cannot connect to mobile crisis response teams.

This past year, Supervisor Janice Hahn raised this issue with her former colleagues in Congress both in discussions in Los Angeles and meetings in Washington, D.C., seeking a legislative fix.

“When someone calls 9-8-8 and needs help that we can’t provide over the phone, we need to be able to send mental health professionals to them quickly — but that can’t happen if LA County residents with out-of-state area codes are diverted away from our local call center,” said Supervisor Janice Hahn. “One of my goals when I went to Washington last spring was to get the ball rolling on solving this problem and I am grateful that on top of Congressman Cardenas’ bill in the House, we have this new bipartisan bill by Senator Padilla.”

The Local 988 Response Act of 2023 (S. 3444) would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to promulgate regulations requiring mobile phone carriers to route 9-8-8 calls based on the proximity of the caller to the call center, not the area code. It is the companion legislation to HR 4974 which was introduced in the House by Congressman Tony Cardenas last summer.

“This motion is about making sure we get the most responsive and timely help to those who are reaching out,” said Supervisor Kathryn Barger. “Operators from our local County call center should be the ones that provide assistance and connections to crisis responders as soon as possible; implementing geo routing is the right approach to make that happen. If our federal government partners authorize this change, lives will be undoubtedly saved.”

Today, the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to approve a motion by Supervisor Hahn and co-authored by Supervisor Barger to send a letter of support for S. 3444 to Senator Alex Padilla and to Senator Laphonza Butler to encourage her to co-sponsor the legislation. The board previously voted to support Congressman Cardenas’ HR 4974 in August.

Los Angeles County currently has 47 psychiatric mobile response teams that operate 24/7 to respond to mental health crises, including 9-8-8 calls. 95% of calls to LA County’s 9-8-8 call centers are resolved over the phone, but about 5% need an in-person response.