LOS ANGELES COUNTY
DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH
  Policy 105.01 Media Requests
 
  PROCEDURES
  1. Staff may respond to routine media inquiries regarding issues relevant to Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (DMH/Department) operations that are in areas of their expertise after receiving consent from their District Chief and/or Deputy Director. Staff are required to consult with the DMH Public Information Officer (PlO) prior to providing media with any information. PlO will inform Chief Deputy Director of the reported media contact.
     
  2. Requests for information outside an individual’s area of expertise or of a politically sensitive nature must be referred to the PlO. DMH personnel shall promptly provide information upon request from PlO to enable a timely response.
     
  3. The PlO, in consultation with appropriate Executive staff, will determine the DMH staff person best suited to respond to the inquiry.
     
  4. When needed, PlO shall work with the Los Angeles County Chief Executive Office (CEO) Countywide Communications Office and/or Office of County Counsel to determine the propriety of releasing requested document(s)/information. Items expected to generate considerable and/or controversial media attention will be communicated by PlO to the Los Angeles County CEO Countywide Communications Office and DMH Chief Deputy Director.
     
  5. Following approval from the appropriate Mental Health Clinical Program Manager, staff will provide the PIO with relevant written information needed to finalize time-sensitive responses to media inquiries or to develop other newsworthy and informational communique, such as media advisories, news releases, official statements, scripts, social media posts, etc. In consultation with staff, PIO shall develop a final version of non-time-sensitive communique within five (5) working days of the date the information is received by PlO. After approval by the appropriate DMH Deputy Director, PlO shall distribute the approved communique to relevant media.
     
  6. Representatives from the media who believe they have been denied access to a public document may appeal, in writing, to:

    Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health
    Public Information Office
    510 S. Vermont Avenue, 18th Floor
    Los Angeles, CA 90020
     
    1. DMH Director is the final appeal authority within the Department. The Board of Supervisors’ adopted policy designates Los Angeles County CEO Countywide Communications Office as the Board’s representative in resolving disputes between the media and Department.