Children’s Center Project Deadline Set

Gov. George Deukmejian on Monday signed legislation that sets a 1993 deadline for construction to begin on a proposed children’s crisis center in Ventura County.

The center is being financed jointly by the county and a private, nonprofit group and will house about 85 abused, neglected or abandoned children. Last year, the state agreed to let the facility, called Casa Pacifica, be built on 23 acres at Camarillo State Hospital.

The bill signed Monday stipulates that construction must be under way in four years or the land will revert to the state. Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks), who carried the legislation, said the point is to make the land available to the state again if a private operator of the facility cannot be found.

Casa Pacifica is intended to serve as an alternative to placing abused and neglected children in temporary foster homes or leaving them in police stations or other institutional settings while the county tries to find foster homes for them.

County officials say as many as 70 abused or neglected children must be placed in foster homes each month. Casa Pacifica is expected to cost $6 million to $10 million.