County Lacks Beds for Mentally Ill, Study Finds

Declaring housing for the mentally ill in a “crisis state,” county officials Tuesday unveiled a first-ever comprehensive analysis of the problem that shows the region has fewer than half the beds needed to house those with serious mental illness, leaving hundreds to fend for themselves on the streets.

County officials say the unmet needs documented in the 77-page report will give Ventura County an edge when competing for state and federal grants, funding sorely needed to help the cash-strapped county offset the enormous cost of providing additional housing.

The Behavioral Health Department report, issued April 4, concluded a four-month study of the mentally ill in this county, their families, social service providers and the treatment and residential services available in seven Southern California counties.

The study found that Ventura County needs 550 more beds for the mentally ill and increased supervision over daily activities, such as taking medications. It also found that Ventura County has 125 fewer beds than Santa Barbara and Kern counties.

“We never have tracked this kind of data,” said Patricia Kosich, Behavioral Health’s acting housing director, who helped write the report. “Having this information could be possibly a very helpful thing.”

Supervisors have been debating possible solutions to the housing crunch for months and are expected to begin expanding the stock this fall, said Supervisor Frank Schillo.

One county proposal would provide 225 beds by moving 16 homes from the Cal State Northridge satellite campus to a 30-acre property on nearby Lewis Road owned by the county. Another plan involves renovating the Ventura County Medical Center’s former psychiatric wing to provide 35 beds in a locked facility.

State and federal funds are needed to shore up county funding in both cases, said Schillo. He has previously suggested that supervisors use at least a portion of the estimated $9 million a year the county receives in tobacco settlement dollars to pay for the housing proposals.

“The state has got to come up with some money to help with this,” said Supervisor John Flynn. “We just can’t do it all alone. Even with tobacco settlement money.”

The county’s report was made public one day after state officials revoked the operating license for the 62-bed Ventura Garden Manor, one of the county’s largest and oldest board-and-care facilities, for numerous safety violations.

County staff have five days to find housing for 15 mentally ill clients. Eight residents who require 24-hour supervision may be transferred to a costly facility in Pasadena, county officials said.

With the closure of Ventura Garden Manor, the number of board-and-care beds available for the mentally ill falls to 194, Kosich said.

“I think we’re in a crisis state,” she said. “We have very little appropriate housing options for folks with severe mental illness. Choices are limited.”

Lou Matthews, board member of the Ventura chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, said the situation at Ventura Garden Manor demonstrates that county government has not been doing enough to help those with severe mental illness.

“If you put people living independently who shouldn’t be living independently, it is costly,” said Matthews. “The reality is, the oversight isn’t there. The support isn’t there.”

The report, which was distributed to Chief Administrative Officer Harry Hufford and county supervisors, suggests adding 50 more shelter beds to the existing 10, 150 more transitional housing beds to the existing 12 and 350 permanent housing beds to the existing 194.

About 425 mentally ill Ventura County residents have been homeless during the last 12 months, the report states, citing a December survey.

State officials on Tuesday said they will not issue a permanent license to owners of Ventura Garden Manor because dozens of fire safety violations and structural hazards on the property weren’t corrected promptly. Eight residents were allowed to live in a structure for months that was on the verge of collapse.

Thirty-eight residents have left the Ventura group home since March.

“The folks that are there now have been the folks that really hadn’t wanted to move from the get-go,” Kosich said. “This is really their home. Some people have lived there 10 years or more. They’d been aware this was a possibility. It’s a reality now.”

The county shouldn’t escape blame on the closure of the group home, said Matthews, whose adult son suffers from schizophrenia. County caseworkers assigned to the residents of Ventura Garden Manor should have reported poor living conditions there long before the state revoked the license, she said.