Free Therapy: An Anomaly in Era of Cuts : Counseling: Lawndale is the only South Bay city to offer mental health care without charge. It’s a one-man service, but it’s been a godsend to some.

Unlike any other South Bay city, Lawndale offers free mental health care for problems ranging from job stress to substance abuse. And the service is available not only to residents but also to people who work in the city or have children in its school system.

For Patricia, a 40-year-old paralegal with a son in a Lawndale school, the help has been a godsend. She says the city’s one-man counseling office has been invaluable in helping her cope with low self-esteem and the pressures of parenting.

“I’m feeling more confident and capable,” said Patricia, who asked that her last name be withheld. “I’m learning how to talk about how I feel . . . and learning how to listen.”

While cities throughout Southern California have been forced to slash social programs from their shrinking budgets, the Lawndale City Council for more than a decade has spent at least $10,000 a year on its mental health service, which offers referrals, counseling and a support group.

“I would congratulate the council,” said Elsie Go Lu, deputy director of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. “Traditionally, cities have always looked to the county for mental health.”

But county assistance is not always available for walk-in, short-term counseling, said Richard Van Horn, executive officer of the Mental Health Assn. in Los Angeles County.

“(The county’s) target population is people who have severe and disabling mental illness,” Van Horn said. “You have to be pretty sick to get into the county program.”

The Lawndale program’s sole counselor for the past six years has been Carlos Garcia, a licensed marriage and family therapist who works for the city part time. Garcia screens patients and schedules them for one-hour sessions, in English or Spanish. Victims of rape and families of murder victims have shared their tragedies with Garcia in his humble office in the Civic Center building next to City Hall.

About 100 people a year use the service, Garcia said. He will talk to almost anyone about any problem. But he refers those who are outside his area of expertise--such as children or people with conditions like schizophrenia and dementia--to other mental health clinics.

Lawndale schools often refer troubled students and families to Garcia. He also sees parents--even entire families, he said.

“The child manifests behavior in school but when you look at it closely, it can sometimes trace to their parent’s behavior,” he said.

Patricia said she heard about Garcia through her teen-age son’s school. “He was having problems in school and his counselor suggested Mr. Garcia,” she said.

She and her son first visited Garcia four months ago because they had problems communicating. Also, Patricia said she had been insecure about her ability as a paralegal, partly because she felt her English skills were weak. She turned to Garcia because she had no health insurance and could not afford to pay for private counseling, she said.

Although mother and son visited Garcia together several times, she has continued to see Garcia alone to work on parenting skills and build her self-esteem. After four months, the woman said, she feels she has made an improvement--so much so that she has mustered confidence to enroll in an English class.

“I knew from the beginning I would get serious work done because of the way (Garcia) is,” she said. “He gets to the point instead of dragging on past history events. He’s straightforward, to the point, and works on solving the issues.”

When Garcia joined the city he was paid $20,000 a year, he said. His pay--which accounts for virtually the entire cost of the program--has decreased over the years to the present $10,000, which is taken from the city’s general fund.

According to Mayor Harold E. Hofmann, the cuts could have been worse. Every year, he says, the council receives recommendations to eliminate the program.

“It always seems like a good place to cut,” Hofmann said. “But it’s well worth the money we’re spending. In the long run, we could be saving the city. If kids aren’t put on the right track early, they could be out there doing more damage.”