LA City Council Backs Therapeutic Van Program Move

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The Los Angeles City Council today approved the relocation of an alternative emergency-response program in the Harbor area to another dispatch center within the community, amid concerns about accessibility at the existing site.

The council approved the motion on a 12-to-0 vote. Council members Kevin De Leon, Tim McOsker and Monica Rodriguez were absent during the vote.

The motion instructs the Los Angeles Fire Department and the Department of General Services, in coordination with L.A. County's Department of Mental Health, to report on the feasibility of moving the Therapeutic Van Pilot Program from Fire Station 40 to another dispatch center in the Harbor Area.

A list of potential LAFD stations, both active and inactive, within Council District 15 will be provided to identify possible dispatch centers that can house the program, taking into account the proximity of major streets or freeways that would allow the program to dispatch responders more efficiently.

Councilman Tim McOsker introduced the motion in June.

The pilot program is a partnership between the county Department of Mental Health and the LAFD aimed at providing an alternative to response by armed police officers to certain emergency calls. The program utilizes the DMH therapeutic transport response in conjunction with LAFD's Tiered Dispatch System for calls involving patients experiencing mental health crises.

The program began as a one-year pilot in January 2021, but the council recently amended the contract with the county to extend the program through June 30, 2024.

The program is available 24 hours a day and is deployed from LAFD stations covering downtown Los Angeles, South Los Angeles, West Los Angeles, Southwest Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.

The Southwest Los Angeles Therapeutic Van Pilot Program in the Harbor area is currently housed in Fire Station 40, located on Terminal Island in McOsker's 15th District. However, the location is not easily accessible, according to McOsker.

McOsker noted in his motion that the location will become ``increasingly difficult for ingress and egress'' due to the future Vincent Thomas Bridge Deck Replacement Project.

The councilman said he wants to rehouse the program at a more suitable dispatch center that will better serve the Harbor area and Southwest Los Angeles.

— By City News Service