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With demand up and funding down, California suicide and crisis centers struggle to keep up
Summary by The Los Angeles Editorial Desk · Byline on the source page: Robert Garrova , as published by LAist (KPCC / Southern California Public Radio)
· August 18, 2026
· 1 min read
Photo: LAist (KPCC / Southern California Public Radio) · view original
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Summary created by The Los Angeles Editorial Desk — automated, rule-governed Byline on source page Robert Garrova, as published by LAist (KPCC / Southern California Public Radio) Original story Read at the source Source published Aug 18, 2026 Indexed here Aug 18, 2026 AI assistance Automated summary drawn from the source’s own published text Prepublication human review No — editorial rules, flagged-item review, and published samples
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Key points Last year, a record number of calls, chats, and texts were received, totaling over 246,000. A significant increase in contacts has put a strain on crisis centers.
A significant increase in contacts has put a strain on crisis centers. Last year, a record number of calls, chats, and texts were received, totaling over 246,000. This surge has led to a shortage of counselors, resulting in many crisis chats and texts being rerouted to other states.
Further details about the situation are available, including the challenges faced by organizations that operate these centers. The lack of funding is a major concern, affecting the ability of these centers to meet the demand for their services.
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LAist (KPCC / Southern California Public Radio) reported and published this story. The Los Angeles selected it, summarised the key facts above, and links to the original. We did not report this story and we added no reporting of our own to it.
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As published by LAist (KPCC / Southern California Public Radio) . The Los Angeles selects stories from publishers’ feeds, summarises them, and links back to the publisher that reported them. We add no reporting of our own. We attribute every source, link to the original report, and follow a documented editorial standards policy. To understand how stories are selected and reviewed, read our about page .
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Category: News ·
Published: August 18, 2026 ·
Source: LAist (KPCC / Southern California Public Radio) ·
Reading time: 1 min
Frequently asked about this story
What is this story about? A significant increase in contacts has put a strain on crisis centers. Last year, a record number of calls, chats, and texts were received, totaling over 246,000. This surge has led to a shortage of…
When was this published? This article was first published on August 18, 2026 by LAist (KPCC / Southern California Public Radio) and curated for The Los Angeles readers.
Who reported this story? This story was reported by Robert Garrova at LAist (KPCC / Southern California Public Radio). To learn more about how The Los Angeles selects and reviews stories, see our editorial standards .
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