Statewide Use of Program for Youths Urged

A Ventura County program to keep emotionally troubled youths out of state mental hospitals and prisons could save California millions of dollars if it is adopted statewide, a state official said Friday.

Sandra Smoley, California’s newly appointed secretary for health and welfare, said efforts by county agencies to keep troubled youths out of institutions have already served as a model for 11 other California counties and should be adopted statewide.

“Ventura’s program has a national and international reputation for keeping kids at home and out of state hospitals or prisons,” Smoley said.

Smoley was in Ventura on Friday to tour the Frank A. Colston Youth Center with state Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley). Juveniles with emotional problems who also have committed crimes are sent to the center for four to six months.

Smoley and Wright were shown the counseling and educational services provided for the 45 youths at the center, whose crimes range from vandalism to armed robbery.

“Before the program, it was like anywhere else,” said Frank Woodson, director of corrections for the county. “There was really minimal family involvement and essentially the kids just did their time.”

Since it started as a pilot project in 1985, the program, known as the Ventura Model, has kept youths out of institutions by providing counseling when emotional problems first arise, officials said.

Smoley said the program has kept kids off a treadmill of institutionalization that could otherwise lead to a lifetime of state-funded stays in prisons or mental institutions.

Depending on their problems, youths under the age of 18 are referred to the county Mental Health Agency from a variety of other county agencies such as corrections and social services, as well as schools countywide.

By working together, officials said they have kept fewer children from falling through the cracks. Officials have no estimate of how many children have gone through the program since it started.

At Colston, family counseling and therapy are provided to keep teen-agers out of expensive state hospitals, group homes or the California Youth Authority. The hope is that they will be able to rejoin their families sooner, officials said.

The county’s Mental Health Agency oversees the program, which costs about $4 million a year, said Director Randal Feltman.

Other counties, including San Mateo, Riverside and Santa Cruz, have adopted similar programs in an effort to cut costs and improve services, county officials said.

Because of the program, mental health care costs in Ventura County are 36% below the average cost of mental health care statewide and lower per capita than any other county in the state, Feltman said.

“There’s not a lot of taxpayer support for mental health programs,” Feltman said. “But we can show that not only are we saving money but we’re solving problems.

Feltman told Smoley that he hoped some of the savings from reform could be put back into the system.

“This is the kind of thing the governor has pushed,” Smoley said. “He encourages prevention. This program saves human beings and helps them to be productive citizens.”