New L.A. Metro plan aims to help people experiencing mental health crisis

The Los Angeles Metro Board has approved a proposal to improve its ability to respond to people experiencing mental health crises.

The public transit system will work with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health to provide training for Metro employees, including all of the service's 300 customer service workers and more than 200 transit security officers. The training is expected to allow employees to respond better to a rider experiencing mental health challenges.

"With new training from the Department of Mental Health and a direct line to our mental health field teams, we can do a better job getting people struggling aboard our system the help they need and ultimately make our Metro system a safer place for all of our riders," said county Supervisor Janice Hahn, who proposed the initiative.

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The motion will also include priority access for Metro staff to reach the county's homeless and psychiatric mobile response teams.

City News Service contributed to this story.