Oct 6, 2008 7:16 pm US/Pacific
Murder-Suicide Intensifies County Relief Efforts
LOS ANGELES
Los Angeles County officials are monitoring the strain that tough financial times place on the public, an issue underscored by a murder-suicide in Porter Ranch that was discovered Monday.
According to police, a man who was despondent about financial problems shot and killed his wife, three sons and mother-in-law before turning the gun on himself in the family's rented home.
The subprime mortgage crisis has driven the delinquency and foreclosure rate for mortgages to record levels as families are stranded in rapidly devaluing homes that they can no longer afford.
Added to rising costs and an unemployment rate hovering at 6 percent --the highest in five years -- the situation can feel grim.
The county Department of Mental Health has not had an increase in the use of its services due to the financial crisis, but officials were keeping a close eye on the situation, spokesman Ken Kondo told City News Service.
"We're assessing it on a day-to-day basis," Kondo said, urging residents who were overly stressed by their financial situations to get help -- either with the county, or elsewhere.
"We're here to help," Condo said. "It's important to seek mental health professional help right away."
The Department of Mental Health's 24-hour hotline can be reached at (800) 854-7771, though life-threatening emergencies should still be directed to 911.
Tough financial times can also result in increased child abuse, though no such increase has been seen in Los Angeles County because of the current financial situation, according to Department of Children and Family Services spokesman Stuart Riskin.
"History has shown that when there are financial stressors in a home, many times -- not always, but many times -- we see a rise in child abuse," Riskin said.
One county department that has begun to feel the tough times has been public social services, which saw a 10 percent increase in its general relief caseload between December 2007 and July 2008, according to spokeswoman Shirley Christensen.
General relief is financial and job-placement assistance offered to people without children, as opposed to CalWORKs, a similar program aimed at families, Christensen said.
CalWORKs has not seen an increased caseload, Christensen said.
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