In 2021, the Crisis and Incident Response through Community-led Engagement (CIRCLE) program was launched in Los Angeles to deploy crisis response teams instead of police officers to address nonviolent calls related to unhoused individuals.
Over the years, the program has expanded to include more and more neighborhoods across LA including the San Fernando Valley, and on July 31, it received $2 million in federal funding for the hiring of more trained team members to respond to these calls.
The additional funding was announced outside Van Nuys City Hall by Congresswoman Luz Rivas, LA Mayor Karen Bass and LA City Councilmember Imelda Padilla. Joining them was Ayana Rose, vice president of mobile crisis outreach programs at Sycamores – a mental health and welfare agency that leads the CIRCLE program in the San Fernando Valley.
How the Program Works
Help can be provided by calling the LA Police Department’s (LAPD) nonemergency line. A request can be made for a CIRCLE team to respond. An operator will assess if the incident fits the criteria for team members to be dispatched. The criteria requires assistance needed for an unhoused individual, the incident or situation occurring within a CIRCLE program area and the incident occurring is a nonviolent, criminal or medically urgent matter.
Examples of situations CIRCLE team members have been sent to include loitering, well-being checks, noise disturbances and a person under the influence.
Police Aren’t Always Best Choice
Bass said that when it comes to addressing public safety, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, and that each emergency requires a response that is best suited to solve it. And CIRCLE has had plenty of success in recent years. Since 2024, the program has responded to approximately 150,000 calls, made 27,000 referrals and service linkages and maintained an average response time of 19 minutes.
“CIRCLE is built around a single principle: we need to send the right responders to the right call,” Bass said. “When someone is experiencing homelessness or another nonviolent crisis, connecting them to services and support is the best way to help both the individual and the broader community.
“It is unfair to everybody involved to only have one method to deal with a problem,” Bass continued. “You shouldn’t have to send out armed officers to deal with a mental health, substance abuse or a public health [issue]. Officers … are not equipped to respond to crises that way. This approach helps Angelenos receive the care they need while allowing our police officers to focus on violent crime and emergency calls.”
CIRCLE runs 24/7 throughout LA, and that’s no different in the valley. In 2026 alone, the valley’s CIRCLE team at Sycamores responded to more than 1,700 calls.
“Our team has also helped locate missing individuals, provided life-saving Narcan interventions and supported emergency response efforts,” Rose said. “Together, we are building a stronger, more compassionate approach to crisis response – one that ensures people are met with care, connection and hope when they need it most.”
There are two CIRCLE team members per shift who are constantly in the field providing services, Rose said. If a call can’t be handled before the end of one shift, then the team on the next shift will pick up the slack and continue providing support.
Rose does not know how much of the $2 million will go towards Sycamores, but said she would love to add more teams to her valley outreach program for each shift.
“Hopefully, we’ll be able to continue to provide services and expand our reach,” Rose said. “That’s what we want. We want everyone to have the support they need, so this should really help.”
In addition to adding to the crisis response teams, the funding will go towards supporting a dedicated call center with trained operators that receive and manage emergency calls, Rivas said. When people call 911, she continued, they shouldn’t have to wonder what type of care a loved one will receive.
“A person experiencing a mental health crisis is not a problem to be managed, but a person who needs the proper support and resources,” Rivas said. “Today’s $2 million investment moves us toward a system that strengthens the people and programs addressing mental health crises by creating a more compassionate response system.”
The public can access CIRCLE by calling the LAPD nonemergency line at (877) 275-5273 and selecting the “nonemergency dispatch option.”