The Californer - Long Beach Now Offering Evening Mental Health Therapy Programming to People Experiencing Homelessness

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Long Beach, CA ~ The City of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services (Health Department) Homeless Services Bureau is now offering evening mental health therapy programming for people experiencing homelessness in Long Beach. This new offering is in addition to existing mental health services currently offered during business hours and includes scheduled 45-minute phone therapy sessions, available weekday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m.

Mayor Rex Richardson said, "We know many people experiencing homelessness are in need of some form of mental health support. Everyone deserves an open path to access and receive mental health services, and these evening services will further support our efforts in bridging the service gap for these community members."

People experiencing homelessness, sheltered or unsheltered, can schedule a 45-minute phone therapy session with licensed and associate mental health clinicians by completing a form online at www.bit.ly/MentalHealthEveningsLB, at the Multi-Service Center or directly through their case manager. The Homeless Services Bureau and City partners are promoting this free mental health service to community members experiencing homelessness through outreach, on-site shelter care teams and Multi-Service Center case managers.

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According to the City's Point-In-Time Count conducted on Jan. 26, 2023, 34.7% of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness reported having a serious mental illness, and 31.8% report having a substance use disorder. To increase access to mental health services for people experiencing homelessness, the City is taking a number of steps including convening a mental health advisory group; increasing access to physical and mental health services for people experiencing unsheltered homelessness by adding a third REACH team with extended hours; deploying a mobile therapy van with a mental health clinician and a substance use counselor; and pursuing opportunities to support the addition of specialized beds for recuperative care and step-down following behavioral health hospitalization.

The City is committed to providing equitable access to quality healthcare for all its citizens regardless of their housing status or financial situation. Through this new evening phone therapy program as well as other initiatives such as those mentioned above, they are striving towards achieving this goal while also working towards reducing homelessness in Long Beach overall. For more information on the City's efforts visit longbeach.gov/homelessness or follow @lbhealthdept and @longbeachcity on social media using hashtag #EveryoneHomeLB

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