Community Partners is excited to be embarking on a new effort with LA County Department of Mental Health this Fall that will expand preventive and mental health services and activities to more vulnerable people in the neighborhoods where they live. Transforming LA Through Partnership: An Approach to Community Well-being (Transforming LA) is a first-of-its kind ‘incubation academy’ that will help expand the pool of on-the-ground, trusted faith- and community-based organizations that can receive support from County DMH. Transforming LA also includes the County’s Chief Executive Office and the Center for Strategic Partnerships; the philanthropic community; Community Partners; and the UCLA Center of Excellence. Community Partners is proud to serve as the implementing partner for this transformational initiative.
The LA County Department of Mental Health serves a quarter of a million patients, the largest in the nation. For nonprofits that lack infrastructure but provide impactful mental health services along with maintaining strong and authentic connections with their communities, the process for acquiring contracts to help serve LACDMH’s patients can seem almost impossible. “Working and contracting with government agencies is very difficult,” said LACDMH Director of Mental Health Jonathan Sherin, M.D., PhD. “This initiative’s main focus is to serve grassroots organizations who know their communities best to get things done.”