Project
Experiment
About
© 2025 Yicen Liu
The LA County Department of Mental Health needed a public awareness campaign to increase calls to their Alternative Crisis Response (ACR) team—specially trained mental health professionals providing in-person, 24/7 support. Our goals for the campaign were to define mental health crises, help people understand what to expect when they call for help, build trust in the ACR team, and divert calls from 911.
Through focus groups with clients, mental health workers, LA residents, and “trusted messengers”—people who call for loved ones—we learned that clarity and transparency were essential, even in an inherently emotional situation.
Our strategy centered on openness and personal storytelling to build trust in the ACR team and ease fears of law enforcement. The campaign positioned the team as compassionate “first responders,” combining credibility and urgency with care and expertise.
Between March and June of 2025, the robust awareness campaign ran across LA County in a number of languages on city buses, in Metro stations, on social media, streaming TV, radio, and more. A refreshed landing page on LACDMH’s website includes in-depth information and educational videos about mental health crises, as well as heartfelt testimonials from staff and former clients who have been helped by the service.
IDEO TEAM:
Brian Pelsoh
Stuart Getty
Lia Wesp
Amber Schadewald
Brittany Sweeting
Kenny Okagaki
Yicen Liu
Shelli Reeves
PROJECT SCOPE:
Campaign
Art Direction
Print & Digital
Video Production
Motion Design
Website Design