COUNTYWIDE : Home for Disturbed Youths Is Joint Effort

In what is being called a unique joint agreement, Orange County will join four other counties in opening the first facility in the state to house emotionally disturbed juveniles in trouble with the law.

The County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to contribute $200,000 as its share of the cost of building the 30-bed facility, which is expected to open in 1995.

It will be situated in Riverside County but will house youths from Orange, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Diego and Riverside counties who have such serious mental problems that they present a danger to themselves and to others.

“These are the kids who usually have had a progressive series of minor offenses. They are not first-time offenders, but they have committed no serious crimes,” said Timothy P. Mullins, director of the county’s mental health and drug-abuse services. “They are mentally ill, but they do not suffer from any major mental illness.

“But don’t get us wrong. To the average lay person, these are as crazy a child as you are going to see,” he said. “They are capable of self-mutilation, they have been found eating light bulbs, they are into persistent wrist-slashing, they attack themselves and others. And they are totally unpredictable.”

Mullins and Michael Schumacher, the county’s chief probation officer, said these youths are already in the county’s criminal justice system, housed with others in Juvenile Hall. But while the need to treat and house them separately was becoming increasingly evident, local officials could not find a place that specialized in treating and caring for such children.

“They don’t get better because there is nothing for them in the state of California,” Schumacher said. “This is totally unique. We’ve looked everywhere. There are no other experts besides us.”

Mullins and Schumacher began working on a plan for such a facility four years ago. They invited other counties to pool their ideas and formed a steering committee made up of the mental health chiefs and the chief probation officers of the five counties.

The committee then decided to apply for California Youth Authority funds through a bond measure approved by voters in 1988 and earmarked for construction of regional youth correctional facilities.

The new center will be called the Van Horn Regional Facility for Emotionally Disturbed Minors, and will cost $5.2 million to build. The state bond measure will provide $3.3 million, and Riverside County is donating a parcel of land valued at $1.1 million for the facility, which will be near Riverside County Juvenile Hall and Riverside General Hospital. The four other counties will split the balance of the construction funds.

In addition, annual operating costs are expected to be $3.14 million, and Orange County’s share is expected to be $629,302 per year.

Supervisors praised Schumacher and Mullins for taking the lead in efforts to build such a facility.

“This is a highly innovative approach and I like innovative ideas to solve problems,” said Supervisor Don R. Roth. “Mr. Mullins and Dr. Schumacher are to be praised.”

“It’s important in every area of government to look for the regional solution,” Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder said. “In this area, one would not have thought of a regional approach, but it certainly sounds like it is the best solution.”