Support for LAist comes from
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Stay Connected
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Listen

Share This

Health

Why LA is pulling the plug on a 911 pilot that sent mental health workers on some calls

A woman sits in the passenger seat of a white LA County Department of Mental Health Therapeutic Transport van. She wears a red jacket. You can see the LA city skyline in the background.
The TTV team drives out of Fire Station No. 4, to an emergency call as part of the Therapeutic Transportation Van program for mental health emergencies across Los Angeles, CA.
(
Raquel Natalicchio for LAist
)

With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today . 

Two years after Los Angeles launched a pilot program that dispatched treatment teams from fire stations to mental-health calls, the city-county partnership is ending.

City authorities have cited low patient numbers and ongoing staffing difficulties as reasons for the break. County authorities have said they will continue the program without the city.

The Therapeutic Van Transport Pilot Program was touted as an innovative approach that would allow mental health workers to be embedded into the 911 system, therefore decreasing reliance on law enforcement.

When it was announced in 2020, then-L.A. Police Chief Michel Moore praised the program.

Support for LAist comes from

“Rather than looking to yet another program from LAPD, or LAFD, to engage in, it’s pulling things off of our plate and putting them with our mental health professionals,” Moore said at the time.

It was nearly another two years before the program was up and running.

Why it matters

Mental health advocates, lawmakers and law enforcement all have pushed for removing police as much as possible from psychiatric crisis calls. Tense situations can sometimes turn violent when law enforcement is involved.

A recent LAist investigation found that between 2017 and 2023, 31% of shootings by L.A. city police involved a person perceived by officers to be living with mental illness or experiencing a mental health crisis, according to annual use-of-force reports.

How the program worked

Five specially outfitted vans were dispatched out of five fire stations across the city. Each team was made up of a driver, a licensed psychiatric technician and someone who has personal experience with mental illness.

Support for LAist comes from

The goal was to send the Therapeutic Transportation teams to non-violent 911 calls involving a psychiatric crisis, without relying on law enforcement. The fleet of vans also allowed the patient to be transported without a paramedic team, freeing up fire authorities for other calls.

What happened?

L.A. Fire Department officials recommended shutting the pilot down at the end of fiscal year 23/24, citing low average number of patients transported per day and an inability of the Department of Mental Health to fully staff the program.

According to the L.A. County Department of Mental Health, less than a third of the nearly 6,000 calls the teams handled since March 2022 met the criteria for further evaluation by a psychiatrist.

What’s next?

Authorities from the county Department of Mental Health said they will work to continue the program without the fire department partnership.

County Supervisor Hilda Solis said this week that she is disappointed in the city's decision to discontinue the funding.

Support for LAist comes from

“You can be certain that I will keep working to ensure that the resources DMH put toward [the Therapeutic Transportation Program] will be redeployed to other mobile teams and alternative crisis response teams to make sure our most vulnerable citizens get the proper mental health care they need.”

Updated July 1, 2024 at 3:50 PM PDT
This story was updated with information from Supervisor Hilda Solis.

At LAist, we believe in journalism without censorship and the right of a free press to speak truth to those in power. Our hard-hitting watchdog reporting on local government, climate, and the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis is trustworthy, independent and freely accessible to everyone thanks to the support of readers like you.

But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.

We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.

Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.

Chip in now to fund your local journalism
A row of graphics payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay and PayPal, and  below a lock with Secure Payment text to the right
(
LAist
)

Trending on LAist