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Canceled program for mentally ill juvenile offenders gets reprieve and new look

Ventura County Star - 7/30/2017

July 30--A program for mentally ill juvenile offenders in Ventura County has been reinvented, allowing it to survive budget cuts.

The first new clients were accepted last week into "Insights," a court-supervised treatment program that is supposed to prevent kids from repeated hospitalizations and confinement in locked juvenile facilities.

It replaces the "Solutions Court," a program that was buffeted by low enrollment and dwindling funding. County mental health officials canceled a $450,000 contract with the Camarillo-based nonprofit agency that provided treatment effective July 1, but pledged to bring it back in another form.

Interface Children & Family Services lost the contract earlier this year as part of $3 million in cutbacks in the county Behavioral Health Department. County officials ended the pact after enrollment fell to nine youngsters and funding from a tax for mental health fell short.

Joelle Vessels, who directed the Interface program, said treatment was shown to be effective in evaluations. She suspects enrollment declined because referrals dropped, and fewer juveniles are being arrested and placed on probation.

Interface provided treatment under contracts for various versions of the program going back 10 years. Enrollment probably peaked at 35 to 40, Vessels said.

Vessels said she hopes for a turnaround under the in-house county initiative.

"Sometimes a program might benefit from going back in county coffers because without a doubt the county has more leverage with other county departments," she said. "I am hoping for really good things."

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County officials said they expect to improve identification of youth who need treatment, better connect them with services in the community and admit kids with a broader variety of alleged crimes than in the past.

"No one is being excluded off the cuff," said Denise McPeak, the senior deputy public defender assigned to the program. "Every child will be discussed."

County officials predicted youth will also be easier to follow in what they hope will be a seamless collaborative of mental health, probation and legal agencies.

"The mental health professional knows exactly what probation officer to call, and vice versa," said Cheryl Fox, program manager in the Behavioral Health Department. "We streamlined that process for them."

Fox said she hopes to enroll up to 30 youths.

Behavioral Health therapists already work inside the county locked juvenile facility in El Rio, so the theory is that they will be able to identify more children who could benefit from the program after release.

Behavioral Health Director Elaine Crandall is attempting to fix the financial piece via Medi-Cal funding. Managers will bill the state-federal health insurance program for services. Private insurers could also be billed if a youth is not eligible for the income-based Medi-Cal program.

Previously, about 60 percent of the cost was covered by proceeds from the Mental Health Services Act. Voters authorized the tax in 2004 by imposing a 1 percent tax on personal income above $1 million.

Crandall has said the reserves from that source are dwindling amid new demands for funding housing, crisis care and services to foster youths.

National research shows that 75 percent of kids who are incarcerated have a diagnosed mental health issue, said Gina Johnson, who oversees juvenile programs in the Probation Agency.

That's reflected in the population in Ventura County as well, she said.

"It has gone to 85 percent," she said. "Not all 85 percent are appropriate for Insights, but all should receive some level of services."

Insights is designed for youths who are on formal probation, have a mental disorder that contributes to their delinquency, and are mentally competent enough to understand the court process.

Families interested in participating in the program are asked to contact their child's probation officer.

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(c)2017 Ventura County Star (Camarillo, Calif.)

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