Establishing a Mental Health Center for Homeless in Los Angeles

Introduction

Taking care of homeless people can be a complicated issue that is never addressed well enough by the city charity organizations or governmental bodies. Noteworthy, the members of the neighborhood and municipal workers daily put themselves at risk of contracting various diseases and unsanitary conditions when cleaning the areas where the homeless live. Moreover, most homeless people need psychiatric treatment and drug or alcohol addiction treatment. This paper presents an implementation plan on how the LA public mental hospital can help solve the homelessness crisis of Skid Row.

Critical Action Steps

Skid Row has always been a gathering place for homeless people in need of treatment and housing. Today about 5000 thousand people live here; municipal authorities, from time to time, take measures to resettle the homeless from Skid Row, helping dozens of people get settled, but these people are replaced by new ones, and the problem remains unresolved (Rivera, 2019). Therefore, this proposal suggests constructing a new housing and mental treatment public center on the outskirts of LA that could accommodate up to 10,000 homeless people. Recently, investors and city officials have talked about the need to rebuild the area (Rivera, 2019). Most likely, they will try to eliminate the homeless from the territories they occupy.

However, for this issue to be resolved humanely, it is necessary to take several steps. First, the municipal authorities must launch a tender for constructing a complex, which may consist of 3-4 buildings. Secondly, the center will need medical staff, and there is an opportunity to create a partnership project with the LAs MLK Behavioral Health Center, which is going to become a part of the 42-acre MLK Medical Campus in Willowbrook (LA Countys first behavioral, n.d.). This campus already houses the MLK Community Hospital, Outpatient Center, Recuperative Care Center, Mental Health Urgent Care Clinic, and Center for Public Health, which includes the Community Healing and Trauma Prevention Center (LA Countys first behavioral, n.d.). While the MLK Medical Campus in Willowbrook will address the challenges of many homeless people, its capacity is still insufficient to fully overcome the homelessness crisis in LA County. The third important step is developing housing and treatment programs and planning the placement of various services on the territory of the new center.

Resources and Competencies

The LA County Department of Mental Health administers all public and private mental facilities in the LA County. It is also part of the county municipality that develops initiatives to improve living conditions in the county. The LA County Department of Mental Health has partnerships with a variety of charitable and community-based initiatives. Moreover, the LA County Department of Mental Health may receive support from the US Federal Department of Health, including tangible and intangible resources such as guidelines, research data, and strategic documents on the development of similar projects. The LA County Department of Mental Health is a team of professionals who administer, manage and monitor initiatives to improve the mental health of county citizens. These employees are active in the community and have professional contacts with health care providers who can be involved in implementing the initiative.

How the Resources and Competencies Match to the Strategic Initiative

Therefore, the mentioned competencies and resources can be used to establish a Center for Homeless in LA. The LA County Department of Mental Health may host a competition among public and private mental facilities in the LA County to fill leadership positions at the new center. DMH may also use links with other county departments, such as the Department of Urban Development and the department responsible for providing housing to low-income groups. These departments can participate in the project, offering administrative assistance in organizing a tender for construction, allocating land for construction, planning the resettlement of citizens and their subsequent official registration, issuance of documents, and inclusion in society. Moreover, the US Federal Department of Health can assist with the initiative by providing data and plans to manage the new center. The US Federal Department of Health can also provide guidance and support for center-based research related to the treatment of mental illness.

How the Action Plan Aligns with the Organizations Strategic Initiatives

LA County Department of Mental Health has several strategic initiatives that perfectly align with the presented action plan. These initiatives are linked to the goals of ensuring the provision of mental health services to the population. Since the rate of mental illness is extremely high among the homeless, the construction and development of a Center for Homeless fit into the organizations overall strategy. It is noteworthy that many of the homeless are former prison inmates who have been released but deprived of their livelihood. The percentage of mental illness among prisoners is exceptionally high 25% for men and 40% for women (Rivera, 2019). Therefore, the initiative of the center construction could include programs that provide treatment for people with mental illness in prisons and the provision of post-release treatment services. Ensuring the mental health of the citizens of LA County is a top priority for the LA County Department of Mental Health, so the center should be a department responsibility initiative.