218 Claudius Drive, Aptos, CA to house 1,116 “unduplicated visitors” a year due to federal grant with no prior notice or input from public.

Cameron Jackson, Ph.D. DrCameronJackson@gmail.com

A peer-staffed crises residential program located in a three bedroom residence in a toney area of Aptos is slated to open March, 2011 to assit persons with major mental illness. These clients, without a high level of support, would require hospitalization.

The federal government dangles moeny and Santa Cruz County accepts — without prior consultation from the neighborhood or public at large and no imput by taxpayers who pay the bill.

Why did our local Santa Cruz County government representatives purchase 5 years of top of the market residential housing in one of the most expensive areas in Santa Cruz County ($3,900 for a 3 bedroom house with ocean view and two jacuzzis) to provide mental health housing for 1,116 visitors a year? (Someone should find out whether the 5 year lease agreement with the owner picks up the costs of utilities and taxes as well.)

Supervisor Pirie who represents Aptos states that she did not know. So who did decide?

How about some belt tightening by local Santa Cruz government? Did the results of the November, 2009 elections sink in here in Santa Cruz County — that the public wants to cut government costs?

Approximately 1,116 visitors at risk of psychiatric hospitalization due to symptoms of hallucinations (e.g., hearing voices or seeing things that aren’t there), delusions (false beliefs), agitation and impaired functional abilities will be housed at the proposed peer-staffed crises residential program.

At any one time, up to 8 persons will be at 218 Claudius with staff of 7.35 Full Time Equivalent (FTE). So there will be almost a one to one staff to patient ratio at 218 Claudius on a 24 hour 7 day a week basis.

Why 218 Claudius? Well, yes indeed, 218 Claudius in Aptos, CA has a magnificent view of Monterey Bay. It is a quiet, residential neighborhood. A resident at 218 Claudius can readily walk to Rio del Mar Beach which is only a few blocks down the hill. Likewise, it is a short 15 minute walk to Deluxe Market located on Rio del Mar Blvd. Should there be some life endangering situation — some resident goes out of control — the Fire Department is about a mile away and there are no speed bumps in between.

Public transportation to and from 218 Claudius is a bit iffy however. Say a person wanted to get from the River Street shelter in Santa Cruz, CA to 218 Claudius in Aptos, CA using public transportation. The last bus from Santa Cruz to Cabrillo College (#71) leaves at 4:00 pm and a person must catch the 4:45 pm #55 bus to get to Rio del Mar near Claudius. That is the last bus. Thus, people must drive their car or be driven if arriving after 5 pm. And there are few street lights in Aptos.

The Santa Cruz Metro bus telephone number is 831 425-8600. Expect a 15 minute wait if calling as I did around 3:30 pm. That kind of wait is not good for persons suffering from mental illness and seeking immediate crises assistance.

As there is no bus after 5 pm, persons in crises coming to 218 Caudius must either drive, be driven or walk. There are no street lights. And parking is quite skimpy. Will the 7.3 Full Time Equivalent persons working drive their vehicles? Probably.

How well thought out was this decision? Who were the key players making the decision?

written by Cameorn Jackson DrCameronJackson@gmail.com
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Below are two articles from local papers about the new mental health facility.

Rio Del Mar residents fighting County Mental Health Department

Group home for mental health patients being opened without notice

Residents are up in arms about a mental health facility being placed without notice in the middle of their neighborhood on Claudius Drive in Rio Del Mar by the County’s Mental Health Department. More than a dozen residents have lodged complaints with county Supervisor Ellen Pirie over the County’s plans. Pirie claims she didn’t learn about the facility until recently.

After receiving numerous complaints from residents, Pirie scheduled a neighborhood meeting to allow residents to ask questions and air concerns to county health officials, and for county officials to explain details of the program.

The community meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday Feb 16, 2011 in the meeting room at the Rio Sands Motel on Aptos Beach Drive. Pirie will not be attending the meeting due to another commitment in Washington DC.

County health officials claim they weren’t legally required to provide notification to neighbors. They had intended to contact residents but just hadn’t gotten around to it.

The County plans to begin moving in patients by the end of March.
One of the residents, Cindy Jewell, said, “It was discovered last week by our neighborhood in Rio Del Mar that an eight-bed mental health crisis respite house is being opened at 218 Claudius Drive in Rio Del Mar. Beds and office equipment have been moved in and there was no advance notification to anyone in the neighborhood or the community of Aptos.”

After contacting Pirie, the neighbors were informed that as this crisis respite house was unlicensed and staffed by peers, no notification or zoning requirements were necessary. Further research into the origin of the $3.5 million 5-year federal grant by the County Mental Health Services Department revealed that this program is still being tested. This will only be the seventh facility initiated in the United States and the only one in the state of California. The County has chosen a location, on a cul-de-sac, with little privacy for the mentally ill staying at this crisis house.

It has been reported that County health officials have signed a 5-year lease in February to rent the 3,000-square-foot with ocean views for $3,900 a month. According to the county health department, the facility is to provide transitional housing for people suffering various forms of mental illness, including severe depression, hallucinations and other issues that impair daily living.

The County Mental Health Department received the federal grant in September to operate and innovative treatment facility for those going through a particularly stressful time to prevent an actual mental health crisis. It is to be a voluntary early intervention on the part of the patient, not an alternative to a hospital commitment.

A one-hour program posted last April ran on Santa Cruz CTV with Yana Jacobs, Program Manager of Adult Mental Health Services, stating they wanted to find a ‘pretty’ location that ‘feels like a respite’ for their clients to enjoy.

The neighbors point out that even though this type of facility may be necessary and the program may prove to be a viable option for the future based on results gained in their community, they claim that this location is not the appropriate place for what the county is trying to achieve with success in really helping the mentally ill.

Residents say that the facility selected should have much more separation from its residential neighbors, access to seven-day per week public transportation, more parking, be closer to community services and the home should be located in a mixed use neighborhood versus an area zoned as single family residential posing a possible security threat to kids and adults and it’s an inappropriate facility for the neighborhood.

Jewell said that over 30 neighbors made contact to Supervisor Ellen Pirie with limited response. However, Pirie finally scheduled a community meeting for 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 16 at the Rio Sands Motel meeting room.

According to Jewell the concerns they would like addressed include:

•Why did the County of Santa Cruz purposely avoid a public hearing or public notice before establishing this crisis respite house?

•With a minimum 320 people going through this home per year, why was their not some sort of Environmental Impact Report (EIR) conducted?

•If this facility is not a residential use and is a medical facility, why was there no notice?

•Why was this house selected?

•Who is responsible if something goes wrong as the staff consists of “peers” and not professionals?

At a time when dollars are being conserved throughout our county, state and federal government, those opposing the facility, “have grave concerns about the cavalier attitude of the county employees that are treating this $3.6 million grant as free money.”

Yana Jacobs said on CTV that there was still uncertainty as to whether or not the crisis respite house needed to be licensed. Ellen Pirie stated that the house is unlicensed but no documentation has been shared with the community demonstrating that it was not necessary even though its paid employees – consisting of management, counselors, data collectors and 24/7 staff – will be ‘peers’ with no medical professionals on site.

According to county health officials it is planned to have patients rotating in and out of the eight-bed respite program every 3-10 days, with approximately 320 patients each year. The program will be staffed and managed by on-site peer counselors, people who have suffered from the same mental conditions.

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The house is on a cul-de-sac where the homes are close enough that neighbors can hear each another from their houses despite the grant specification that the location should be where houses are “not too close” and neighbors won’t “care much about the goings on inside” the facility. The house is not ADA (Americans with Disability Act) compliant as specified in the grant. There is no street parking available due to the narrow street, no sidewalks or streetlights. The bus service only runs on weekdays during the daytime hours with no weekend or night services. Additionally, it was reported just last week that local bus services would be reduced by 30 percent due to budget constraints.

However, the house does have a full panoramic view of the Monterey Bay.

Community meeting with county health officials and residents concerning respite group home: 6 p.m. Wednesday, Rio Sands Motel, 116 Aptos Beach Drive, Aptos. Information: 566-2202

Santa Cruz County to open new residential psychiatric center
By Kurtis Alexander
Posted: 09/18/2010 01:30:03 AM PDT

SANTA CRUZ — People who may be suffering a mental health problem will soon have another option for treatment — a 24-hour crisis center to help nip small psychiatric issues before they get out of hand.

The new county-run residential facility, scheduled to open before the end of the year, is being funded by a $3.6 million federal grant and will come with the distinction of being staffed not by hospital employees, but by people who have had and have overcome mental health issues themselves.

“The whole idea is to catch the problem early and ratchet it down before people have to go to the hospital,” said Yana Jacobs, county director of adult mental outpatient services, who has been planning the new center. “The story here is that people with mental illness are taking charge and helping one another.”

This week’s news of five years worth of funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has county health officials scurrying to find a site and staffing for the new center. Officials have not figured out where they want to be located, only that they’d like a centralized site near a bus line.

Plans for the new center come as county health officials reconfigure services for the mentally ill. Last year, Dominican Hospital announced the closing of its longtime psychiatric center, prompting the county to draw up plans for its own 16-bed acute-care psychiatric unit.

The new peer-run center will work in concert with the acute unit, health
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officials say, allowing them to steer people with bigger issues to the acute unit while still providing help for those with lesser problems.

“Our plans depend on us having a whole healthy network of services,” said Leslie Tremaine, county mental health and substance abuse director.

The peer-run center, according to the terms of the federal grant, will accommodate about 225 patients each year, offering care to the public seven days a week, all day for such problems as mood swings and depression. Stays will average eight days.

“People are going to come for respite. They’re coming here for a break,” said Jacobs, who hopes the care will prevent patients from getting more sick and showing the problems that come with more advanced stages of mental illness, like losing a job or home.

Mental health experts estimate one in five people has suffered from a mental health problem at some point in their life.

To inquire about the new center, suggest a site or apply for a job, call 454-4539.