Two members of the Los Angeles City Council joined progressive policy advocates Wednesday to call on the city to allocate an additional $4.5 million for mental health crisis response services that rely less on police.
Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez and representatives from LA Forward, a group that advocates for affordable housing among other issues, urged the city to budget $2.5 million in the fiscal year that starts July 1 to make emergency dispatches more efficient. They also said L.A. should earmark $2 million to evaluate what kinds of programs are currently paid for with city funds and how they might be streamlined.
At a morning news conference held outside City Hall, speakers called on residents to comment during a budget hearing scheduled for later in the day.
Mayor Karen Bass’ $12.8 billion budget proposal includes $50 million for community-based organizations for violence prevention and intervention, civilian crisis response and anti-recidivism services, according to a budget summary.
Hernandez said during the news conference that putting more money into better crisis responses would save the city money “by investing in prevention rather than reaction.”
“We’re asking the city to invest in building alternative crisis responses that are life-affirming, that are culturally humble and will provide our communities the care they need when they need it most, in their moments of crises,” she said.
Godfrey Plata, deputy director of LA Forward, said centralizing dispatch efforts could go a long way toward getting people the right mental health crisis response in a timely manner. He said the process is not as simple as pressing a button to call for medical assistance from the fire department.
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