City of Los Angeles Mental Health

Latest census figures put the population of LA at 3,694,820. However, the City of Los Angeles is also the county seat of Los Angeles County with a total population of 9,871,506. Because LA is the county seat, many mental health services, normally provided by local government, are provided by Los Angeles County and extend throughout the area. Cultural diversity, the physical size, and the total population of the area combine to make mental health services in Los Angeles as vast as the city itself.

The history of Los Angeles stretches back for eons. Early Native American peoples occupied the Los Angeles Coastal Area for thousands of years before the Spanish discovered it in 1542. Santa Rosa Island, off the Los Angeles Coast, is the site of the Arlington Springs Woman. These remains date back 10,000 to 13,000 years and are among the oldest remains discovered in the Americas.

On September 4, 1781, Spanish settlers named the small Franciscan settlement “El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora Reina de los Ángeles de la Porciuncula”, (The Town of Our Lady Queen of the Angels of the Small Portion). Earliest records indicate that in 1800 the village was just 315. The name was shortened to Los Angeles in 1850 when the village was incorporated.

However, this small city with the shortened name quickly grew beyond a “Small Portion” to a sprawling giant. Today, the City of Los Angeles is the second most populated city in the United States and physically larger than either Chicago or New York City. It is also one of the nation’s largest entry points for immigrants, making it one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world.

The city of LA is home to over 90 public and private mental health services that, in the specialized services they offer, are as diverse as the social and ethnic cultures they serve. A few examples of these specialized facilities are:

• The Korean Youth & Community Center
• The Latino Mental Health Center
• M. L. King Jr. Medical Center
• The Margarita Mendez Childrens MH
• The SSG Indochinese Counseling Center
• Family Service Of Los Angeles
• HIV Mental Health Services
• Los Angeles Child Guidance Clinic
• La Gay And Lesbian CSC
• Shields for Families
• The Parenting Institute
• The West Central Family MHS

In addition, mental health inpatient and/or outpatient services as well as a full range of case management, crisis intervention, counseling, and support programs are offered by Los Angeles public and private hospitals including:

1. 1736 Family Crisis Center
2. Edgemont Hospital
3. LA Metropolitan Medical Center
4. LAC/USC Medical Center
5. Southern California  Hospital
6. Superior Hospital
7. The Anne Sippi Clinic
8. UCLA Neurological Institute & Hospital
9. USC University Hospital
10. White Memorial Medical Center
11. Gateways Hospital And MHC

LA also has a number of both public and private mental health care providers that specialize in supplemental care services in outpatient programs as well as supervised and transitional living facilities for those leaving inpatient programs and completing prison and/or jail terms:

1. Forensic Inpatient Program
2. Gateways CMHC-MDO Residential
3. The Health Research Association
4. LA Central Continuing Care Services
5. LA County Mental Health Department Program Support BUR
6. LA County Dept of Mental Health Older Adult Services
7. Portals

All in all, the comprehensive slate of mental health services found in Los Angeles proves that the angels are still there and ready to combat the demons of modern day mental health disturbances!

See Also:

Los Angeles Mental Health Clinics

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