DANA POINT : Mental Health Clinic Opens at School

The Capistrano Unified School District had the space, the Orange County Health Care Agency had the personnel, but no one had the money to build a clinic.

At least, not until the year-old Dana Point and Laguna Beach Kiwanis clubs stepped in.

On Wednesday, officials celebrated the grand opening of the R.H. Dana Children’s Mental Health Clinic at Dana Elementary School, capping a yearlong fund-raising drive that brought the project to fruition.

“We just kind of ran around and begged for help,” said Autumn Zamzow, project coordinator for the Dana Point Kiwanis Club. “It’s so exciting. In this time, when the kids need so much, that this clinic is here--it makes us proud.”

Soon after it was formed about a year ago, the Dana Point Kiwanis Club went out looking for a project that would help children in some way. Club members quickly found a need at the County Health Care Agency.

“This clinic was put together with a budget of zero,” said Linda Rappaport, service chief of the county agency. “It’s unique for the south region.”

About 50 volunteers, from carpet layers to electricians, did most of the work to convert a large classroom into a clinic. It has five interview rooms, plenty of stuffed animals and a reception area. Only about $2,500 in donated funds were needed, Zamzow said.

The clinic will begin accepting patients today. It will serve students, ages 3 to 18, who are referred by the police, hospitals, probation officers, social service agencies and local schools. A full range of services will be offered at the center, including emergency evaluations, in-home supportive services, case management, outreach and hospital/residential treatment admission services. Five county mental health specialists will work at the clinic.

While the program will concentrate on providing treatment to severely disturbed children who may require extra mental health services in order to benefit from special education, the majority of referrals are expected to come from area schools, said Jacqueline Price, a Capistrano Unified School District spokeswoman.

“It’s really the wave of the future,” Price said. “We need to have interagency cooperation. It just makes sense.”

Rappaport said she expects about 250 to 300 families will use the clinic each year. The Health Care Agency now operates five other school-based mental health clinics throughout the county, including two others in the Capistrano Unified School District.