Health Begins with a Home
Health Begins with a Home is a 3 year campaign for rapid implementation of health, mental health & substance abuse portions of Bring LA Home’s 10 year plan to end homelessness with a focus on homeless prevention through improved discharge planning. More specifically, LACEH&H is working to improve Los Angeles County discharge planning policies in three areas: [1] hospitals; [2] jails and [3] foster care. 60% of homeless people have self-identified that they became homeless by being discharged from a variety of institutions including these three.
Objectives:
- Community Discharge Planning Taskforce: LACEH&H convenes a Community Discharge Planning Taskforce in several areas of expertise: hospitals, jails, probation, foster care, mental health and substance abuse. The Taskforce includes LA county representatives, service providers and advocates. The purpose is to provide community input to the county on discharge planning policies and procedures.
- "Best Practices" Manual: LACEH&H is researching successful discharge planning policies and will present a document of best practices to the Community Discharge Planning Taskforce for final approval. LACEH&H will work with The California Endowment and state and national homeless organizations for dissemination and training opportunities on model discharge planning policies and procedures.
- Community Organizing: LACEH&H staff is collaborating with key stakeholders in South LA, the San Fernando Valley and the East San Gabriel Valley to increase capacity of homeless coalitions in these three areas.
- Advocacy: LACEH&H, working with community stakeholders, is advocating for increased facilities, services and the implementation of various county recommendations on discharge planning policies and procedures.
- Monitor: LACEH&H will continuously monitor effectiveness of discharge planning policies.