May is Mental Health Awareness Month. While the month is coming to a close soon, it doesn’t mean there aren’t mental health services that you can look into that are available in the San Fernando Valley.
At the San Fernando Valley Community Mental Health Center in Van Nuys, there are several resources and programs for both youth and adults. The CalWORKS Mental Health Supportive Services Program, for example, provides services for adults who experience mental health barriers to employment. The program aims to help adults to focus on achieving a level of self-reliance and a successful transition into stable employment.
There is also the Children’s Recovery, Resilience and Re-integration (RRR) program, which is specially designed for severely emotionally disturbed youths ages 0-16. The program provides individual and family treatment, medication support, peer counseling, family education and support and linkage with other services in the community.
The center also has the Homebound Older Adult Services program for people ages 55 and older who may be unwilling to receive services in a traditional setting due to the stigma associated with mental illness.
A team of mental health professionals will provide clients clinical assessment, medication support, mental health services and crisis intervention. These services can be provided in other locations outside of the center, including the offices of a primary care physician or in their home.
You can also find services in Canoga Park at El Centro de Amistad. There are adult outpatient services for people ages 18-64 who are chronically mentally ill. Patients can receive individual, family and group therapy, case management, rehabilitation and medication support to help them function more independently.
The center also has a children’s outpatient and school linked programs for youths ages 0-17 with a wide range of mental health disorders. Just as for the adults, the programs provide therapy and medication support to improve children’s daily living skills and social development at home and at school.
And the San Fernando Community Health Center also provides services for the community. Those services include depression and anxiety screening, crisis intervention and referral, support groups and counseling. Based on the results from the screening, the mental health practitioners will recommend a customized course of treatment and support.
If you’re not looking for a specific center, there are some events in the San Fernando Valley through the Take Action for Mental Health LA County campaign that you can look into.
On June 3, in the City of San Fernando, there will be a 988 and 211 Wellness Day event at the Resilient Therapy Center. The event aims to increase awareness of the risk of trauma and chronic stress, including compassion fatigue, moral distress, burnout and vicarious trauma.
And in Granada Hills on the same day, there will be the Valley Muslims Wellness Fair, which will feature sessions with mental health professionals, wellness activities and more.
For more activities, go to https://www.takeactionlac.com/community-events.
For more information about services from the San Fernando Valley Mental Health Center, go to https://www.movinglivesforward.org/programs-services/find-a-program/.
To learn more about services from El Centro de Amistad, go to https://ecda.org/mental-health-and-family-services/.