LOS ANGELES COUNTY : Domestic Violence Hot Line to Offer 24-Hour Help

Los Angeles County officials Monday unveiled a hot line that for the first time will give victims of domestic violence in the county immediate contact with a shelter.

The hot line is an expansion of the county’s Safe Way Out hot line program launched in November that provided callers with a recorded list of nearby shelters. Officials said more than 2,000 callers have used the line.

With the new setup, callers will be connected directly to a shelter and to a professional who can help them. The hot line will operate 24 hours a day and link callers with the closest shelter that offers domestic violence services in one of six languages--English, Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese, Mandarin and Cantonese.

Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti, at a news conference to announce the hot line, said it is the first time that domestic violence victims in the county will have one telephone number to call for a range of services including emergency help, advice or instructions on finding the nearest shelter.

“It’s free, it’s confidential, it has people at shelters ready to help you,” he said. “We hope it will save lives.”

Garcetti said the county will undertake a major effort to notify people of the new service, including public service announcements and 25 English and Spanish billboards throughout the county featuring this message: For a Safe Way Out of Domestic Violence call 1-800-978-3600.

Gannett Outdoor has donated the billboard space and the Junior League of Los Angeles is paying the printing costs, officials said.