CAMARILLO : Homeless Facility May Face Closure

Time is running out to make the Camarillo Transitional Center a high-quality but low-cost regional center for Ventura County’s homeless, advocates say.

Opened in February at Camarillo State Hospital to house people uprooted from the Santa Clara and Ventura river bottoms by winter floods, the center provides on-site housing, job, public health, and substance-abuse services for about $10 per person per day.

But if cities do not commit funds to keep at least 20 of the 40 beds occupied, the state will close the facility July 31, Ventura County Mental Health Director Randy Feltman said.

Feltman told Oxnard City Council members Tuesday that there was “a special window of opportunity” and asked the council to consider funding 10 beds at a cost of about $4,000 each. The city of Ventura has already pledged to fund 10 beds.

Each bed costs a total of $8,000 annually, though $4,000 comes from the federal Department of Labor. Those federal funds have not yet been committed for this year.

According to Feltman, the Camarillo facility is unique in the county, and possibly California, in that it is quiet and offers residents access to a variety of on-site county services.

Many shelters open their dormitories in the evening, and close down again in the morning. The Transitional Center has a kitchen, bedrooms, an internal courtyard and is open around the clock.

Feltman said the center is needed by homeless people who are capable of becoming independent in a short period of time with comprehensive services.

“To really get back into independent living, what we are talking about is an aggressive, comprehensive package of services that can make a change in someone’s life,” Feltman said.

If the center closes, Feltman said, cities will go back to providing homeless services on an individual basis.

Oxnard’s City Council has agreed to consider funding two beds at the Camarillo facility, according to Dinah Lockhart, management analyst with the city of Oxnard’s Homeless Assistance Program.