LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Today, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved Supervisors Holly J. Mitchell and Lindsey P. Horvath’s motion to adopt a unifying countywide vision for prevention and to establish the infrastructure to achieve it, through the Prevention and Promotion Systems Governing Committee – an inaugural Brown Act body comprised of County department leaders working together to significantly improve the conditions necessary to foster well-being for Angelenos and solve for risk factors throughout a person’s life that lead to engaging in government systems like foster care, justice, and public social services.
This motion meets the urgent call for a shared and coordinated commitment to prevention that charts new paths for residents to be able to avoid the County’s safety net and closes the gaps within our current prevention strategies so that residents are no longer falling through the cracks that perpetuate poverty and trauma and are instead supported with the resources to truly thrive” said Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell.
“While many programs and services offered by LA County are intended to prevent people from losing housing, a job, food assistance, or custody of a child, there’s so much more we can and must do to strengthen delivery and impact of our services,” said Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath. “Building a prevention infrastructure has the power to redefine the County’s role in people’s lives, moving from the safety net system we have today, to a system of care that prevents harm and promotes individual and family wellbeing by focusing on front end investments. I proudly join Supervisor Mitchell in this bold plan to bring our County departments and stakeholders together to shake up how we do business to do better by the people counting on us to protect them.”
The motion dedicates an initial investment of $5 million to establish the infrastructure committee that will include Los Angeles County Departments of Public Social Services, Child and Family Services, Homeless Initiative, Mental Health – and other relevant departments and partners – tasked with aligning the County’s numerous prevention strategies into a well-coordinated model equipped to: catch residents before they fall into the county’s safety net, lessen the time and negative effects residents experience within government services and programs and demonstrably improve outcomes for communities through a transparent process for public input and accountability.
Dr. Jackie Contreras, Director of the Department of Public Social Services and inaugural Chair for the Prevention and Promotion Systems Governing Committee, shared “this is an incredible opportunity to come together as one County family to realize the achievable vision of a system of care that works upstream to support individuals and families, holistically and equitably. Building on the strong work of the Prevention Services Task Force, and in partnership with and service to our most marginalized communities, I’m confident our actions and results will bring to life our shared commitments.”
A Prevention Services Task Force was assembled in 2021, through a Board of Supervisors directive calling for bold recommendations to address racial disparities and prevent harm within the County’s government systems – which account for the largest foster care and jail system in the world. Today’s motion to establish a shared prevention vision and infrastructure model is one of the key calls-to-action provided by the taskforce along with additional recommendations reflected throughout the ten directives of the motion.
“I am honored as a community member and someone with lived experience to be part of the Prevention Services Task Force that contributed the recommendations to make this important moment possible” said Fran Sereseres, Resident and Prevention Services Task Force member. “We are relying on the leadership of LA County to make our community informed recommendations real. This will help strengthen collaboration and ensure that we get the services we need to create a LA County with fewer hardships.”
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