Orange County’s mental health warm line is set to lay off 127 staff members on Tuesday and faces an impending shutdown, as county officials pull the entire $5 million in funding allocated to run it following a change in California’s behavioral health spending.
The confidential phone and text service for people who are struggling emotionally, but not in crisis, serves 800 callers a day.
“If you were just starting to feel a little bit of anxiety, or maybe you didn’t talk to anyone during the day and you want someone to talk to, we were there 24/7,” said Amy Durham, the CEO of NAMI Orange County, the group that runs the line. “Well, that service is going away, and there’s no fix, there’s no place for them to go.”…