Bed shortage forces L.A. County mental health staff to rely on police
Sunday, November 23, 2008 - 18:56
in Health & Medicine
Under current law, patients must be admitted if they are brought in by police -- but not if they are brought in by a mental health worker. Commissioners seek a quick solution to the problem. Alarmed by reports that Los Angeles County mental health staff -- hobbled by a countywide shortage of beds for the mentally ill -- are increasingly forwarding emergency calls to police, commissioners overseeing the department on Thursday asked that a plan to end the practice be presented by early next month.