The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has taken a step toward creating a new peer support network to better connect local veterans to housing and services.
On Tuesday, the board approved a motion asking the Los Angeles County Health Agency, the L.A. Homeless Services Authority, and other agencies to team up with the VA and veteran-focused nonprofits to create a plan for establishing a “veteran peer access network” in L.A. County.
According to the motion introduced by Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Kathryn Barger, Southern California veterans who run into trouble often don’t know what services are available or how to take advantage of them, which “can lead at-risk veterans toward trajectories of financial despair, family discord, isolation, substance misuse, homelessness and/or involvement with the justice system."
The LA County Department of Mental Health is already experimenting with peer-led services for residents battling mental, emotional, and substance abuse disorders. In May 2017, the department opened a peer resource center in Koreatown staffed by people who have experienced challenges--they’re formerly homeless or in addiction recovery, for example--and trained to help others get through the same struggles by connecting them to county services.
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