Robert Garrova
I cover mental health at a time when L.A. — and the nation — is failing people who live with a serious mental illness. The L.A. County jail system is the de-facto mental health institution for our region, and people who want help with their mental health often can’t get it, even if they can afford it. I’ll work to help Angelenos understand how we got here and what reforms aim to change things. I’ll do this through the stories of people struggling with their own mental health and those trying to get care for a loved one.
My reporting has taken me to the edge of wildfires in California, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, steps away from a robot that’s now exploring Mars, and into the homes of countless Angelenos.
I’ve had many jobs in radio. I used to help produce and direct the flagship show for Marketplace, a daily business and economic news show. I also spent a couple years in the Northeast working as a reporter. I found my love of audio journalism while interning on LAist's (formerly KPCC’s) Off-Ramp in 2013.
I was born and raised in SoCal. I’m most proud when my journalism can help raise the voices of people struggling in this beautiful region stricken by inequality.
-
Otro caso más genera preocupaciones sobre la respuesta de la policía ante las crisis de salud mental y pone a la vista las barreras que la comunidad inmigrante de Los Ángeles enfrenta para recibir atención especializada. -
Jail officials and county-appointed monitors alike say current care in the jails is severely deficient. Coroners' records reviewed by LAist show a jump in suicides inside L.A. County’s downtown jail complex in 2021.
-
Activists with JusticeLA and other groups are demanding County Supervisors commit to closing MCJ without a replacement by March 2025.
-
Edward Bronstein died in March 2020 while officers were forcibly taking a blood sample after his detention.
-
Frank Campos jumped out of a car going 60 mph on his way to yet another care facility. His family hopes their story will help others exasperated by a broken-down infrastructure of care.
-
“The great thing is going to be able to provide assistance to people who are suffering,” said the head of LAPL’s Library Experience Office.
-
Nearly one in four Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander respondents reported difficulty in accessing mental health care in 2021.
-
The Los Angeles County Office of Education will partner with providers to offer mental telehealth services to more than a million kids at K-12 public schools.
-
Coalition Of Groups Comes Together To Try To Serve Mental Health Needs Of Monterey Park AAPI VictimsThe AAPI Equity Alliance is a trade group of dozens of nonprofits that started coming together Sunday to find mental health resources for the AAPI community.
-
Mass shootings have, sadly, come to feel commonplace in the U.S. But each new report causes new trauma. Here's where to get help.
