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.
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Some $10 million would go towards alternative mental health crisis response programs, which have yet to be finalized. -
Sheriff Alex Villanueva says he will release the video once he's given Isaias Cervantes' family a chance to view it.
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Training — from command staff operations to use of less lethal weapons — is a throughline in three reports commissioned in response to last year's unrest.
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The number of Mental Evaluation Unit teams has gone down over the last five years, from 17 to just 12.
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The family of Isaias Cervantes says he was unarmed and its lawyer says Cervantes was 'completely compliant' when a deputy allegedly shot him in the back. The Sheriff's Department says Cervantes was assaulting a deputy and trying to take his gun when he was shot.
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The proposal calls for diverting 4,500 people with mental health issues out of jail and greatly expanding mental health and substance use treatment.
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The funds will allow nearly twice as many people found incompetent to stand trial to participate in community-based restoration instead of languishing in county jail.
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The money will mean 200 additional beds for a county program that diverts people facing felony charges out of jail and into 'community based settings.'
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The lawyer for the family of David Ordaz, Jr. says instead of getting help from deputies during a mental health crisis, he was "executued."
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The Sheriff's Department said deputies shot and killed David Ordaz, Jr. as he charged at them with a knife. A bystander's video does not clearly show that's what happened.
