2025 CA Wildfire Recovery Resources for LAC Employees

Resources for County Employees > Physical & Emotional Wellbeing

Health Plan Support

Impacted employees have additional recovery resources through their designated healthcare plan.  County and union-sponsored health plans enable employees and their family members to schedule doctors’ appointments and to speak with specialists to assess medical care and emotional support services and resources.  For your convenience and ease of reference, a list of all County healthcare providers and the unique resources they offer can be found in the Employee Wildfire Support Guide.  Please note that the services listed are specific to an employee’s elected healthcare plan.

Employee Assistance Program

The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offers confidential professional consultation and referral to assist employees with grief and a broad range of personal and job-related issues. Consultations are private and confidential, and employees can attend their first visit on County time.  EAP also offers group sessions for workgroups experiencing distress, such as grief due to the loss of a team member. Both group sessions and one on one consultations are available virtually and are completely free of charge for County staff.  For more information on counseling sessions, groups, and trainings available, contact EAP Services at (213) 433-7202, available Monday through Friday from 8:00am – 5:00pm.

Special Virtual Presentations on Coping Strategies After a Disaster

EAP is offering two virtual presentations each week in January 2025 to assist employees directly and indirectly impacted by the 2025 wildfire emergency.  These sessions aim to address the mental health challenges experienced during these difficult times and offer coping strategies along with resources following this disaster.  Registration for these sessions is not required. Interested individuals can click on the link for the session they wish to attend, and the URL will take them directly to the session. Participation for each presentation will be limited to the first 1,000 participants.

Should you have any questions or experience any issues with accessing the presentation, please contact the EAP Team at (213) 433- 7202 or EAP@hr.lacounty.gov.

iPREVAIL

Courtesy of the Department of Mental Health, all Los Angeles County residents and employees now have access to iPrevail, a 24/7 online mental health resource center.  iPrevail brings traditional models of talk therapy to any Internet-connected device or smartphone.  LA County residents and employees can sign up for free, take a short assessment and tap into online mental health programs, such as community support groups, on-demand coaching by trained peer specialists and self-paced lessons on a variety of topics to improve wellbeing.  To get more information or to sign up for on-demand mental health support, employees can visit https://lacounty.iprevail.com.

Department of Mental Health Access Center

The Department of Mental Health offers free mental health crisis counseling to all County employees and their families impacted by the local wildfires. These services are available to help employees and their families cope with distress, reactions, or feelings about the wildfires. Employees in need of immediate help can call the 24/7 Mental Health Access Center at (800) 854-7771 to receive crisis counseling, assessments and referrals or visit https://dmh.lacounty.gov/our-services/disasterservices/access-hotline.

Life Assistance Program

Offered by New York Life Behavioral Health, the Life Assistance Program provides 24/7 anonymous and confidential counseling services and 24/7 crisis intervention free of charge to all County employees and their families regardless of what insurance plan they are enrolled in. Call (800) 344-9752 for more information.

Disaster Distress Hotline

The Disaster Distress Helpline is a 24/7, 365-day-a-year, national hotline that provides immediate crisis counseling for people living through any natural or human-caused disaster. Their compassionate staff provides counseling and support before, during, and after disasters, and connects people to local disaster-related resources for follow-up care and support. This toll-free, multilingual, and confidential crisis support service is available to all residents in the United States. Call 1-800-985-5990 or text ‘TalkWithUs’ to 66746 to connect with a trained crisis counselor.  Find additional resources at www.samhsa.gov/find-help/disaster-distress-helpline.