>>Jail mental health unit finally due to open

After more than a decade of efforts, Ventura County officials expect to open a $61-million health unit next month to treat and house jail inmates with serious mental illness and medical conditions.

Scores of elected officials, police and citizens turned out Wednesday for the grand opening and tour of the addition to the Todd Road Jail located west of Santa Paula. They got a close-up view of the 64-bed locked facility before the first inmates are placed in what’s being called the Health & Programming Unit.

“It represents years of thought and planning and design and construction,” Assistant Sheriff Shane Matthews told the crowd. “We’re finally here.”

Architect Bill Prindle says the result achieved a key purpose — providing a place where inmates with serious mental illness can stay without hurting themselves and get the treatment they need.

Cells inside the new center reflect the demands of holding inmates with serious psychological issues. They are spare by intention in an effort to keep inmates from using something like a cord to harm themselves. Safety cells with no furniture and padded walls were built for inmates in crisis.

But Prindle notes the unit also offers soft touches. Some of the interior walls are painted green and blue, colors that research shows are calming. The space is illuminated with natural light and common areas have high ceilings. The acoustics were designed to lower noise levels.

Outdoor gardens were planted so they could be viewed from inside the facility, an attempt to connect inmates with the healing aspect of nature.

“There is research that supports the notion of connection with nature,” said Prindle, vice president at HDR Architecture Inc. in Dallas. “In this case we were able to introduce this viewing garden…..It came out very well.”

Specialized uses

The eight-sided, concrete-block facility contains 60 cells where inmates with medical and mental health needs will be housed. Another four are designated as medical cells for short-term needs such as recovery from surgery.

The unit also offers medical treatment rooms, classrooms, a dental office for both routine and emergency care. Surgeries and other major procedures would still be performed off site, but inmates can get X-rays, dialysis treatment and minor medical procedures such as suturing of cuts.

Sheriff’s Capt. Tim Ragan, who oversees the unit, likens the medical side of the facility to an urgent care. On the mental health side, care from “A to Z” will be provided with the exception of inmates needing hospitalization, he said.

Three mental-health programs at the main jail in Ventura are scheduled to move to the Todd Road Jail after the unit opens: a program to rehabilitate people found incompetent to stand trial so they can assist in their own defense, another designed to intervene at an early stage with that population and a therapeutic program for other inmates with serious mental disorders.

Around 1,300 people are held in the two jails, where the number of inmates with serious mental illness and chronic medical conditions has climbed significantly in recent years. The growth in demand for medical care has been tied to the state’s 2011 shift of certain felony cases from prisons to local jails, while the presence of mentally ill people in jail is a longstanding issue. Roughly 40% of the total jail population takes medication for a psychiatric disorder, according to an estimate the sheriff’s office made two years ago.

‘Long time coming’

Nancy Borchard, a longtime advocate for people with mental illness, welcomed the completion of the new health unit after touring the facility Wednesday.

“I’m happy it got done,” said the member of the county Behavioral Health Advisory Board. “It was a long time coming.”

Sheriff’s officials began discussing the concept more than 10 years ago, but funding and political issues along with the pandemic and permit delays slowed the project down.

Money proved to be a major hurdle. Almost 10 years ago in 2014, a state corrections board denied the county’s request for a $41 million grant to build the unit, mostly over concerns that a 10% local match needed to be firmed up.

The next year, the county got less than half the $55 million sought. But the facility received the full amount in 2016 when San Francisco officials relinquished their award because of concerns over using the cash for a detention facility.

Ultimately, the state agreed to pay 90% of the cost with the county putting up the other 10% from local property tax dollars.

Nor was the project uniformly popular.

The Santa Paula City Council initially opposed the expansion in 2013 for fear the addition would tarnish the community’s image and economy, but later dropped its opposition in view of the assistance inmates could receive.

Officials held a ceremonial ground-breaking in 2019 and forecast that the project would be completed in two more years. Then the pandemic followed in 2020, sidetracking it again. Matthews said the virus and the shutdown slowed the schedule, making it difficult to find workers and ensure they were safe. He said there also was a delay in getting permits OK’d by the state fire marshal.

Finishing touches

There are still some major tasks and finishing touches ahead, like moving staff, installing phones and testing security, but sheriff’s officials expect to open by the end of May.

Borchard said she expects that inmates will benefit from having mental health treatment close at hand after the facility opens.

“Just when people need that kind of care, they can get it right away,” she said.

Public Defender Claudia Bautista heads the legal office that represents many of the clients who will be housed and treated at the unit. She called the opening “a positive step” toward meeting the needs of people charged with crimes and living with mental illness that’s often untreated and undiagnosed.

Educational programs offered in the unit could help them acquire skills and prepare for re-entry into the community, she said.

“This can potentially reduce recidivism rates among this population and improve community safety,” she said.

Kathleen Wilson covers courts, crime and local government issues for the Ventura County Star. Reach out to her at kathleen.wilson@vcstar.com and 805-437-0271.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Long-awaited mental health unit opening at Ventura County jail