‘You have to understand that our clients are no more dangerous than society at large’

In the field of mental health, Maria Estrada, 45, is known as a trend-setter. As the Volunteers of America’s director of mental health services for the past six years, she oversees three board-and-care homes for the mentally ill in San Diego County and one in Imperial County. She believes the mentally ill can lead active, productive and responsible lives, and thus, she packs their days with training classes, group discussions, household duties and other activities. Estrada’s interest in the mentally ill can be traced to the fact that her mother suffers from the affliction as does an uncle and two nephews. Times staff writer Kathie Bozanich interviewed her in her office at Troy Community Care Center in Spring Valley, and Barbara Martin photographed her.

The birth of board-and-care homes was in the late ‘50s, when the state decided to deinstitutionalize our mental patients. So Patton (State Mental Hospital) let out all these people, thinking they would be placed in private homes, but anyone who has lived with mental illness knows that it’s a very disruptive thing. So people who were able to understand and appreciate the different problems that are experienced in mental health began setting up homes like this.

For so many years, the mental patient was railroaded into treatment, into taking medication, being locked away from loved ones, and, in many cases, there was no need for that. Unfortunately, to compensate for that terrible thing we did back then, the pendulum now has swung to the other extreme. Now, unless that person says “Yes, I’m sick; yes, I need help,” nobody will help them. I think we need to bring that pendulum back to the center, so that when you see these people that are in such tattered condition, they can be picked up and evaluated closely and given the chance, maybe even forced, to take some help.

We’ve had many black eyes in the past in the board-and-care home field. There were a lot of problems, like the lack of money and a relatively unskilled labor force. There were dirty, uncared-for facilities, where the clients weren’t fed properly, where there was no real encouragement of the clients to get out, get a job, go back to school, volunteer, better yourself. They were like warehouses, where clients just lived, flopped, ate, walked around, smoked cigarettes and drank coffee.

Ten years ago they were politely called maintenance facilities, as in: “Maintain where you are at; don’t go back to the hospital.” We don’t accept that. If today they got up and took a shower and functioned well, then next week we’re going to put them in a program, where they’ll learn about first aid, or learn about personal hygiene. Simple things like: “What would I do if this facility burned down? How would I get out? How would I care for myself afterward?” We’re trying to bring up the board-and-care home system, to give it a more dignified, more professional image.

Before this, I worked for six years in another prominent board-and-care (home) in San Diego County that was run by a private organization. The benefits our clients received there were not real adequate. They met the law, and that was it. We go above and beyond here, and that’s what makes me happy, what makes it worthwhile.

All our clients are encouraged to clean their own living area. They’re taught to make beds, scrub toilets, wash dishes and take care of the grounds. By state law I cannot limit their activities. The facility provides bicycles for them, and some of them have cars. They must sign out when they leave with family and friends. This is in case of an emergency, where we’d have to contact them right away.

The community at large needs to become aware of mental illness and how it affects the lives of those afflicted with it. Be aware of it, and be more accepting of those with mental illness. We need to erase the stigma that is attached to mental illness. The community needs to understand that our clients are no more dangerous than society at large.