L.A. County hosts suicide-prevention summit; community awards given during awareness month

Verified: The Los Angeles County Suicide Prevention Network (LASPN) and the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH) hosted their annual summit and an awards ceremony during Suicide Prevention Awareness Month; the release from the County of Los Angeles gives the theme as “Power in Community: The Strength We Share.”

Source evidence: LACDMH provided attendance and program details in the county news release; the summit ran Sept. 8 at the California Endowment and Sept. 18 at Pasadena City College, with clinician-focused sessions on the first day and community education on the second. Speakers named in the release included Amanda Rowan, Michael Vinton, Barak Bomani and Laura Tully; the awards ceremony took place Sept. 2 and featured remarks from Curley L. Bonds, M.D., Charmaine Dorsey and Melissa Rivers, plus a performance by Rhythm & Truth.

Source statistics: LACDMH reported crisis-contact volumes for fiscal year 2025–26; the county release says the L.A. County 988 Suicide Prevention Center received 101,309 calls, chats and texts; the Didi Hirsch Teen Line handled more than 10,000 contacts; and LACDMH’s 24/7 Help Line answered more than 171,087 crisis calls. These figures are presented by the department in the news release.

Observed fact: The release lists this year’s award recipients; named honorees include Didi Hirsch Mental Health Center Wildfire Recovery Program (Dr. Sam Chan and Dr. James Cunningham Award for Outstanding Leadership), Bridget McCarthy (Sam and Lois Bloom Hero Award for Outstanding Advocacy), Mina Longo (Dr. Elaine Leader Hero Award for Outstanding Youth), A Fighting Chance (LASPN Innovation Award) and South Central Wellness Collaborative (LASPN Collaboration Award).

Analysis and practical consequence: The department’s reported call and contact totals indicate substantial demand for crisis services; high volumes suggest sustained operational load on hotlines and allied community programs. If demand remains at reported levels, counties and providers will need durable staffing, training and coordination to sustain 24/7 response capacity; this is an inference based on the numbers LACDMH provided, not a direct claim from the release.

Limits and uncertainty: The county release does not provide follow-up metrics showing whether the summit or awards changed help-seeking behavior, reduced crisis episodes or altered service capacity. The release also does not break down contacts by outcome, geographic area or caller demographics; those gaps limit assessment of program impact.

What to watch next: Monitor future LACDMH reporting for outcome data tied to outreach and training efforts; community organizations and funders should request operational metrics; staffing levels, response times and post-contact outcomes; if they want to evaluate whether reported demand is being met.

Where to get help and more information: The county release directs readers to lasuicidepreventionnetwork.org for LASPN programs and resources; the release was issued by LACDMH’s Public Information Office and appears on the County of Los Angeles newsroom.

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