Specialty Mental Health Services (SMHS)

Some mental health services are provided by county mental health plans instead of L.A. Care. These include specialty mental health services (SMHS) for Medi-Cal members who meet the rules for SMHS.
SMHS may include these outpatient, residential and inpatient services:

Outpatient services:

  • Mental health services
  • Medication support services
  • Day treatment intensive services
  • Day rehabilitation services
  • Crisis intervention services
  • Crisis stabilization services
  • Targeted case management
  • Therapeutic behavioral services covered for members under 21 years old
  • Intensive care coordination (ICC) covered for members under 21 years old
  • Intensive home-based services (IHBS) covered for members under 21 years old
  • Therapeutic foster care (TFC) covered for members under 21 years old
  • Peer Support Services (PSS) (optional)

Residential services:

  • Adult residential treatment services
  • Crisis residential treatment services

Inpatient services:

  • Psychiatric inpatient hospital services
  • Psychiatric health facility services

To learn more about specialty mental health services the county mental health plan provides, you can visit the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health website or call 1-800-854-7771.
To find all counties’ toll-free telephone numbers, visit the website of the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS).

If L.A. Care finds you will need services from the county mental health plan, L.A. Care will help you connect with the county mental health plan services.

Back to Other Medi-Cal Programs and Services