1

The Mental Illness Challenges of Ventura County

Joana Ramirez

Health Science Department, CSU Channel Islands

HLTH 102: Community Health Organizations

Professor Ashley Parks

Dec 05, 2020

1
2

The Mental Illness Challenges of Ventura County

I began my assignment by reflecting on the needs of my community with a focus on the

increased number of the homeless population in Ventura County. I work in the city of Ventura

within a block from the government center. I was instantly drawn to the homeless community

because I see them daily on my way to work, during my lunch or on my way home. I often

observe these individuals who wander the street, but lately it seems as if though I see more of

them in what appears to be a haze or in a state of confusion at times expressing themselves

loudly while holding a conversation with no one. I decided to narrow down my assignment to the

homeless population suffering from mental illness. I want to know why we have so many

individuals suffering from mental illness, why are they homeless and what resources are

available to their health and needs?

A little back story, my parents are part of a church and as service to the community they

would join events with the Salvation Army in the city of Oxnard. I have many memories as a

child, particularly around the holidays where we volunteered in feeding the homeless

community. I remember giving a man my little cup with change and he began to cry. Today, I

see more homeless people than ever before. They are no longer exclusive to the streets of

Oxnard; they are everywhere in the county and more of them are obviously suffering from a

mental illness. A recent year-round count of the homeless population found that in 2019, “1,669

homeless people in Ventura County, a 28.5% increase from 2018”(VC STAR, 2020).

2
3

The first of my subjects is my friend Becky, she is a nurse who holds a job at the local

jail and is in constant exposure to homeless individuals with mental illness. The second, is my

mom Laura who shared with me the story of a local homeless man who sits in the corner of her

block to get a glimpse of his children, they live in the neighborhood. Lastly, is a personal friend

of mine named Ritchie who has been homeless, struggled with alcohol and substance abuse, and

is now living a clean lifestyle, thriving, and is no longer homeless.

Becky shared with me image #1, it is an image of the local jail. Becky told me, “there is

a large population of homeless people in the jail. Some are getting in trouble to make ends meet.

Others are being arrested because they are loitering and don’t have a place to stay and wont

leave. And others simply choose to be homeless and enjoy the lifestyle”. She went on to explain

how the portion with mental illness is vast among those incarcerated, “There are the

schizophrenic people in the streets that aren’t medicated and if rehabilitated they can function in

society most likely without any problems. But because they get put in jail, they may not see the

psychiatrist because they’re so inundated by the time that they’re released they never get on their

medications. And then when they do get on the medication and are released, they don’t have the

funds to get the meds.” I asked her if there is a system in place to transfer care or a health bridge

post jail release? She said, “no, nothing, it’s very sad”.

My mom Laura, shared with me image #2, it is her street corner because of the homeless

man who sits there daily. The man struggles with mental illness, his wife was deported, and the

children were handed to family members. He sits in the corner to watch the children go to school

from afar, sometimes he is intoxicated and asleep on the ground. He dabbled in drugs and

alcohol after his wife was deported and has never been able to recover. Since then he struggles
3
4

with mental illness, she suspects schizophrenia, but she is unsure. I asked her if he has ever tried

to get clean and she said, “He tried for his children, but the drugs messed him up, his family

couldn’t deal with the mental problems and left him out on the street, now I think he can’t get

help because of his condition and no one is here to help him”.

Lastly, my friend Ritchie approved image #3. The image is of a man laying in the cold

floor. He said, “little to any help is available”. Primarily, because he was struggling with

substance abuse and alcohol problems, he said, “nobody wants to help someone who is

struggling and struggling makes it hard next to impossible to ask for help, you’re in a dark whole

you can’t seem to get out of. No one wants you around and you don’t want anyone around to see

you in that condition. Then you drink a little more to numb the pain and coldness, it’s a vicious

cycle. It is easier to stay down, sometimes you pray you don’t wake up”.

A recent survey of Ventura County determined the statistics of those who are suffering

from homelessness. The City of Oxnard and Ventura accounts for two-thirds of the homeless

population (Carruth, 2017). The ethnicity of homeless in Ventura County are primarily broken

down into Hispanic or Non-Hispanic, 33.6% are of Hispanic decent and the rest are 66.4%. The

age group of 25-21 years old accounts for 80.% of the population. 74% of the homeless

population are adult males while only 24% of the population is female. Of this population 43%

are chronically homeless, 21.6 suffer with mental health, 24% suffer from substance abuse,

29.2% are released from prison or jail and 35.9 are suffering from chronic health conditions. The

rates were much higher for those completely unsheltered.

4
5

California is severely impacted by a large homeless population and a wide range of them

require mental health care. “Over a third of homeless population is suffering with a mental

illness” (Cal Matters, 2020). According to Calmatters (2020) One sixth of Californians are

suffering a type of mental health condition and one in twenty four Californians suffer mental

health conditions which impacts daily life. Having the inability to function daily makes it

difficult to seek help and perform normal living task. Calmatters presented a history of the

policies that impacted California, in 1954 the FDA approved antipsychotic medications, they

proposed people would be able to function in their communities. In 1965 Congress creates

Medicare and Medicaid, allowing people with mental illnesses to live in their communities and

collect federal benefits this was followed by limitations on involuntary detention centers for the

mentally ill. Here is where there is a shift in the care of the mentally ill; “In between 1960 and

1970 State mental hospitals begin to close, mental illness patients decline in hospitals as mental

illness rises in jail” (Cal Matters). Since the closure of state hospitals, an increase in mental

illness related crime, they are criminalized and not assisted. “A few decades ago, fewer than half

of state hospital patients came from the criminal justice system. Today, more than 90 percent do”

(Cal Matters, 2020). Also important are the increased inmate population in need of medical care,

“growing numbers of inmates are waiting for state hospital beds, sometimes for months at a time.

In the past five years, the number of California inmates deemed incompetent to stand trial and

ordered sent to state hospitals increased 60 percent” (Cal Matters, 2020).

The programs available with empathetic values with a clear-cut mission of rehabilitation

comes from nonprofit organizations such as the Salvation Army and the Ventura County Rescue

Mission, other services are provided through churches and other smaller organizations. “The

5
6

Salvation Army is one of the largest organizations available”, According to USA today, “30

million Americans receive help from the Salvation Army with only 7,500 centers available and

3.5 million volunteers”. The Salvation Army website acknowledges the relationship between

homeless and mental illness, they offer a number of links to services for people of different age

groups. “Because mental illness often goes hand in hand with homelessness, joblessness, poverty

and other challenges, many of our mental health programs offer not only counseling and medical

support but also other services like a safe place to live, nutritious meals, life skills classes,

referrals to employment opportunities and peer support groups”(Salvation Army, n.d.).

Of the services available to Ventura County many are limited. Ventura County provides

services to people struggling with homelessness, what strikes me is the limited services

available. A lot of these services require a series of transactions, phone calls applications and

documentation. I find this to be a problem due to the fact that those struggling with mental illness

are unable to perform day to day task on their own and require assistance. I believe a program

like the Salvation Army is beneficial to the community and it would be wonderful if there was

more funding to further expand the services provided. Despite the large organization, beds and

services are still limited and not enough beds are available in comparison to the number of

people in need of help. I also found that homeless prioritization is firstly handed to women and

children while single individuals are offered limited services and longer waiting periods. The

cost of living in Ventura County is expensive and funding for housing is limited. I would hope

the community can set a plan for those who are in our jail systems. We need to break the

continuous cycle of going in and out of jail. There is a missing step for those individuals who

suffer from mental illness, and overall, I found no such program to redirect their lives directly

6
7

from jail or to prevent them from going to jail. I hope that in our future we can consider to

separate mental illness and criminals in order to begin to repair our communities.

Appendix

Photo #1: Submitted by Becky

Photo #2: Submitted by Laura

7
8

Photo #3: Was not submitted by Ritchie but was approved by him as a reference
Obtained from a local page.

Mental Health History: Obtained from CAL MATTERS

8
9

References

9
 10

Carruth, T. (2017). venturacog.org. https://www.venturacog.org/documents/VC

%202017%20Homeless%20Count%20and%20Survey%20Final%20Report%204.10.17.pdf.

Deutsch, L., & Bravo, V. (2015, July 2). On 150th anniversary, stats on Salvation Army's impact. USA

Today. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/07/02/salvation-army-150th-

anniversary/29596003/.

M., D. (2020, July 4). Information For The Ventura County Jail: Pre-Trial Detention Facility.

https://www.shouselaw.com/ca/defense/jails/ventura-county-jail/.

Rjgeib, James, J. J., Rjgeib, R, M., & E, L. (2019, November 24). The Homeless in Ventura:

Frustration, Confusion, Ambivalence, Avoidance. Richard Geib.

https://www.rjgeib.com/homeless-in-ventura/.

Rode, E. (2020, January 30). Record number of volunteers’ survey Ventura County's homeless

population in annual effort. Ventura County Star.

https://www.vcstar.com/story/news/2020/01/30/record-number-volunteers-count-ventura-

countys-homeless-population/4559558002/.

Services for Homeless People. Ventura County. (2020, August 3https://www.ventura.org/human-

services-agency/services-for-homeless-people/.

Support Mental Health - The Salvation Army of Omaha, Nebraska.

https://centralusa.salvationarmy.org/omaha/support-mental-health/.

References

10
 11

Wiener, J. (2020, September 18). Breakdown: California's mental health system, explained. CalMatters.

https://calmatters.org/explainers/breakdown-californias-mental-health-system-explained/.

11