{"id":302183,"date":"2026-05-06T06:23:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T06:23:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/302183\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T06:23:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T06:23:16","slug":"is-this-california-housing-program-the-ideal-model-for-treating-people-with-severe-mental-illness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/302183\/","title":{"rendered":"Is this California housing program the ideal model for treating people with severe mental illness?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

This st<\/a>o<\/a>ry<\/a> originally appeared in the California Health Report.<\/p>\n

To those who knew him, Noah Silver was a bright, happy child identified as gifted with a penchant for playing instruments. He started playing bass guitar at the age of 11 and picked up acoustic guitar a year later. Silver took guitar lessons and taught himself to play drums. But in his teen years, something changed, his mother, Kartar Diamond said.<\/p>\n

\"\"Childhood photos of Noah rest on a table at the John Henry Foundation. (Photo courtesy Jenna Schoenefeld\/California Health Report\/CatchLight)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the course of a summer, Silver became rebellious and moody, Diamond recalled. What she hoped was a phase soon\u00a0spiraled into paranoia and delusions of grandeur.\u00a0Noah began to believe he was a great spiritual leader\u00a0and became\u00a0paranoid that every musician in L.A., including a neighbor, was stealing his musical ideas.\u00a0Noah Silver is a pseudonym, used at the family\u2019s request to protect his identity.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For years, Silver\u00a0was misdiagnosed\u00a0by clinicians\u00a0as having social anxiety or bipolar disorder.\u00a0Some psychiatrists\u00a0thought\u00a0his condition\u00a0might be a phase due to\u00a0the behaviors\u00a0manifesting in Silver\u2019s teen years, Diamond said.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Finally, a visit to a psychiatrist at UCLA when he was 17 years old revealed the truth. \u201cHe said, \u2018No, this is schizophrenia,\u2019 and he actually gave me a pretty dark view of what the future was going to look like,\u201d Diamond said. Schizophrenia is often misdiagnosed as bipolar disorder because schizophrenic\u00a0symptoms can mirror mania episodes associated with bipolar disorder.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The diagnosis was difficult for the entire family. Diamond was upset because she didn\u2019t want her son to have to go through life with a mental illness but knew she had to accept the situation if she wanted to help him.\u00a0For years, she struggled to find care for her son due to\u00a0a lack of quality residential housing programs in California, expensive monthly rates, and long waiting lists at both public and private long-term psychiatric facilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now 35, Silver lives in a residential housing program in Orange County for people with severe mental illnesses.\u00a0It is\u00a0run by the John Henry Foundation, a nonprofit organization serving clients with schizophrenia. Diamond said that her son\u2019s seven-year stay there has been\u00a0far better than any other facility he has lived in.\u00a0Silver\u2019s\u00a0tumultuous\u00a0care journey resulted in stays at nine different board and care facilities as well as a\u00a0recovery residence for formerly incarcerated persons, five hospitalizations, and a bout of\u00a0homelessness. Diamond\u00a0signed up\u00a0her son Silver for John Henry\u2019s waiting in 2016, and in 2019 he moved into their campus in Santa Ana.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel really grateful that he\u2019s there,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is like a needle in a haystack.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"The Stockton State Hospital photographed by John Pitcher Spooner (Photo courtesy Holt-Atherton Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library)<\/p>\n

Silver isn\u2019t alone. About 1 in 20 people\u00a0experience serious mental illness<\/a>\u00a0in the U.S. each year. In California, thousands of people are admitted\u00a0to public psychiatric hospitals annually.\u00a0\u00a0An L.A. Times\u2019\u00a0database<\/a>\u00a0compiled thousands of recorded abuses that have occurred across the state\u2019s 154 psychiatric hospitals since 2009.\u00a0Mental health advocates, researchers and providers are doing what they can to increase access to care, while improving its quality.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s murky history of mental health care<\/p>\n

California\u2019s history of institutionalized psychiatric care is long, messy and riddled with systemic abuse. The state\u2019s first mental health institution, Stockton State Hospital,\u00a0opened in 1853 under the name \u201cStockton State Insane Asylum.\u201d Throughout the decades, patients were repeatedly subjected to now out-of-date practices like lobotomies and electroshock therapy; lobotomies fell out of practice in the 1950s but are still\u00a0legally performed<\/a>\u00a0in some states. Abuse inside asylums and hospitals\u00a0partly led to<\/a>\u00a0a deinstitutionalization movement in the 1950s and 1960s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the next few decades, state legislators passed\u00a0several\u00a0laws<\/a>\u00a0in an attempt to regulate the treatment of people inside locked, psychiatric hospitals.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Silver stayed in a handful of these locked board-and-care facilities, and Diamond said his condition didn\u2019t improve. She was surprised when Silver agreed to stay at the John Henry facility because of the bad treatment he had experienced at other facilities. One bad experience involved a fellow patient rewarding Silver with\u00a0methamphetamine\u00a0to do errands.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aEven in the fog of his mental illness \u2014 he had lived at a dozen different horrible boarding cares, dual diagnosis centers, sober living houses and whatnot \u2014 he could recognize that it was a really nice, clean place,\u201d Diamond said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Residential housing programs like the John Henry Foundation facility don\u2019t just house adult clients, they also hire staff members that are equipped to meet the needs of people with multiple diagnoses. These individuals are considered at high risk of causing harm to others and themselves, usually on conservatorships, and have often spent years, even decades, living in locked psychiatric hospitals.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0A resident steps outside at the John Henry Foundation. (Photo courtesy Jenna Schoenefeld\/California Health Report\/CatchLight)<\/p>\n

The Orange County home is among dozens of recommended residential housing sites in the\u00a02020 Housing that Heals Report, an analysis of different California-based facilities treating people with severe mental illnesses. Mental health advocates Teresa Pasquini and Lauren Rettagliata visited multiple locations to pen the report. They hoped it would serve as a guide for providers and families looking for housing and recovery options for people with severe mental illness.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pasquini went through similar struggles to the Diamond family when trying to find the proper care and treatment for her son Danny Pasquini, who experienced a psychotic break when he was 15 years old. Danny Pasquini lives\u00a0at Psynergy\u2019s Nueva Vista campus\u00a0in Morgan Hill, a city in Santa Clara County. Psynergy Programs, founded in 2005, operates the residential housing\u00a0program\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0for people with severe mental illnesses. The company, which has six locations in California, offers individual and group therapy, dual support for mental illness and substance abuse, and case management support.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"A resident participates in the morning meeting at the John Henry Foundation, where staff cover daily activities and reminders with residents. (Photo courtesy Jenna Schoenefeld\/California Health Report\/CatchLight)<\/p>\n

On an average day, you can find Danny Pasquini in his room listening to music or maybe hanging out in Psynergy\u2019s courtyard. He has a calm demeanor but perks up when he\u2019s ready to talk about his interests and maybe even show off his breakdancing skills. Teresa Pasquini said her son, who is 43, has been in and out of many locked facilities where he struggled with drug use. He was eventually diagnosed with both schizoaffective disorder and a substance abuse disorder. Teresa Pasquini said that Psynergy\u2019s programming has helped her son maintain his sobriety.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Unlike locked institutions, both Psynergy and the John Henry Foundation both have an open-door policy at their facilities that allows residents to resume regular life activities like attending college, provided they pass certain requirements.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Residents\u00a0at\u00a0John Henry Foundation\u00a0live in bungalow style dorms and have access to an outside courtyard and recreation center. Clinical staff members are available on site to work with clients through therapy, and medical staffers work residents to figure out their psychiatric needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Andrew Kami, the foundation\u2019s clinical director, said the first step to figuring out the appropriate treatment for people with schizophrenia is to help create stability in their lives. Establishing stability, Kami said, starts with speaking with a client and understanding who they are beyond their mental condition. That\u2019s important when treating schizophrenia, a neurological disorder that impacts memory, critical thinking and processing. \u200aPeople with schizophrenia can experience anxiety, panic attacks and delusions. Knowing more about a person\u2019s personality helps Kami and his clinical team provide better support in treating these symptoms through therapy sessions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe try to establish some understanding and a shared relationship and then from there, that\u2019s when we\u2019ll start to get a bit more of the information around how the things that they\u2019re experiencing impact their lives,\u201d Kami said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Understanding and treating a\u00a0schizophrenia\u00a0diagnosis\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Dr. Andrew Kami. (Photo courtesy Jenna Schoenefeld\/California Health Report\/CatchLight)\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Orange County resident Peter \u201cPete\u201d Labahn, understanding his brother John Labahn\u2019s diagnosis has been a lifelong pursuit. John Labahn is a resident\u00a0at\u00a0the John Henry Foundation\u00a0home\u00a0and spends his days watching the news or reruns of the Western TV show \u201cGunsmoke\u201d and the detective drama \u201cThe Rockford Files.\u201d He also enjoys going on scheduled outings with staffers and fellow residents to places like a local cafe or the beach. Pete Labahn will visit his brother for his medical appointments and stays in contact with foundation staff members about his care status.<\/p>\n

Pete Labahn was 10 years old when his parents sat him down and explained that his younger brother John Labahn had a learning disability. Their family moved around different cities,\u00a0and the Labahn brothers found themselves attending a number of public, private and international schools. John Labahn was about 16 years old when schizophrenia-like symptoms began to manifest, which made being in conventional school environments next to impossible. Over the next few decades, he was hospitalized at several facilities where his condition only worsened. Pete Labahn eventually took over his brother\u2019s conservatorship from their parents and is now his brother\u2019s primary caretaker.<\/p>\n

John Labahn\u2019s condition has improved in the last 25 years because of his growing willingness to participate in treatment, Pete Labahn said. He was previously enrolled at\u00a0the John Henry Foundation\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Pete Labahn said he had a good experience with the foundation but moved his brother for other reasons. John Labahn reentered in 2018, which Pete Labahn said has been a good experience as well. \u201cThe staff there proved to be more than capable of dealing with his needs, particularly on medical issues,\u201d Pete Labahn said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Dr. Rimal Bera. (Photo courtesy Jenna Schoenefeld\/California Health Report\/CatchLight)\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dr. Rimal Bera, the foundation\u2019s medical director, is currently looking at how psychiatric care can be improved at the facility and beyond. Outside of the foundation, Bera has taught psychiatry at UC Irvine for 35 years. He works with faculty as well as students to research how schizophrenia affects a person\u2019s perception of reality. Bera said that thought disorders like schizophrenia \u200aare related to certain abnormalities in neurotransmitters in the brain. Those abnormalities are what cause symptoms like hallucinations, paranoia and delusions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aAs we are understanding more specifically what\u2019s causing these symptoms, we can now develop medications that actually impact those neurotransmitters with the goal of decreasing hallucinations, paranoia, non-real thoughts,\u201d Bera said. Medications are also being developed to target symptoms related to lethargy and absence of thoughts, which are associated with schizophrenia.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Beyond medication, he believes it\u2019s crucial to establish a trusting relationship and support system with the client and the family. The number one reason for relapse, Bera said, is when the person stops treatment because they are starting to feel better. \u200a\u201dOne real big challenge is how do we help that individual stay on medicines, but still have the discussion of, \u2018If you\u2019re thinking about coming off, let\u2019s do that together as a team,\u2019\u201d Bera said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mindy Andrews, the foundation\u2019s executive director, said being willing to adapt is one of the keys to providing good care to clients. \u201cSomeone who\u2019s very stable today may not be as stable in six months,\u201d Andrews said. \u201cSo we have to remain fluid and really willing to change to meet people\u2019s needs.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

How to provide accessible mental health care?<\/p>\n

Still, there are challenges. The foundation has an extensive waiting list, so it can take years for patients to be accepted. The facility\u2019s age range is 18 to 59 years old, although it can continue to house patients past this age range, so long as the organization can meet certain state standards. Diamond said that the monthly payment is expensive. The program costs $4,250 per month. It\u2019s worth it for her though, compared to conditions at other facilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Mindy Andrews. (Photo courtesy Jenna Schoenefeld\/California Health Report\/CatchLight)<\/p>\n

\u201cJust by virtue of my son living at a place where everybody is trying to do the best they can instead of being derelict, that helps,\u201d Diamond said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As a researcher, Bera is consistently thinking of how the John Henry model can be replicated at psychiatric facilities across the state.\u00a0The stakes are high, as the life expectancy of people with schizophrenia is 20 years lower than the average. From a psychiatric residential housing standpoint, Bera said that it\u2019s important for providers to think about how the biological, psychological and social parts of care are intertwined. People with schizophrenia need the right medication, consistent therapy sessions and encouragement to continue taking care of hygiene and interacting with others.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDeath is from multiple conditions,\u201d Bera said, \u201cso you\u2019ve got to really address all those areas to have comprehensive treatment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the state level, Bera wants more people to be aware of the systemic cost of hospitalizing and incarcerating people with schizophrenia and other severe mental illnesses. While California\u2019s county jail population\u00a0continues<\/a>\u00a0to decline, the number of inmates experiencing mental health needs has steadily increased since 2011.\u00a0In an attempt\u00a0to address the issue,\u00a0California is currently participating in a\u00a0federal pilot program<\/a>\u00a0that is allocating hundreds of millions of dollars to several states to expand and improve short-term care in mental hospitals and in residential facilities for 24\/7 psychiatric care.<\/p>\n

A critical barrier in expanding care is staffing. Less than one-third of the U.S. population resides in an area where there are\u00a0\u00a0enough<\/a>\u00a0available psychiatrists and other mental health professionals. California is also\u00a0experiencing<\/a>\u00a0a shortage of space in both public and private psychiatric facilities. In January, state officials chose to momentarily delay implementing emergency staffing rules for psychiatric hospitals, which would increase staffing requirements.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aIf we could have public policy that provides medications, case managers, social workers, access to psychiatric, homelessness and incarceration would significantly go lower,\u201d Bera said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Dr. Rimal Bera writes notes following a session with a resident at the John Henry Foundation. Jenna Schoenefeld for California Health Report\/CatchLight\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pete Labahn believes that his brother might be in a locked facility or experiencing homelessness if he didn\u2019t receive the treatment he\u2019s receiving\u00a0at\u00a0the John Henry facility.\u00a0\u201c\u200aI think about it every time I drive down First Street in Santa Ana to go see my brother or go see my brother, because it\u2019s on full display, the same challenges that my brother would be facing if he had been born under different circumstances,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bera is hopeful that what\u2019s being achieved at John Henry will be made available to others struggling to find the right kind of treatment. Part of his research at UC Davis, he said, is looking at health economics data to understand what treatments are working, which then can be presented to state lawmakers for funding consideration. Bera mentioned efforts made by USC\u2019s Street medicine\u00a0team<\/a>\u00a0to bring clinical services to LA\u2019s homeless population, including psychiatric services.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He is also involved in training primary care doctors in the basics of how to approach a patient who is exhibiting signs of schizophrenia. This is critical work as there is currently a shortage of psychiatric specialists.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u200a\u201d\u200aOur job as psychiatrists is to make sure we do the best to advocate for our patients,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

While providers are thinking of how to better serve their patients, Diamond takes each day as it comes. Though she feels she will always harbor some uncertainty about what happens to her son, she takes moments to enjoy his progress. Diamond shared a recent example. Something upsetting happened to her, and when Silver found out, he called the next day to check on her.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c\u200aWhen somebody\u2019s deep in their own psychosis, they only care about themselves and their own needs,\u201d Diamond said, \u201cand to have him show that kind of interest in somebody besides him and show empathy, that was like the old him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Resources for mental health issues<\/p>\n

National Alliance on Mental Illness\u2019\u00a0guide<\/a>\u00a0to shaping mental health discussions on Schizophrenia and Psychosis<\/p>\n

Latinx Therapy\u00a0directory<\/a><\/p>\n

Immigrant Rising\u2019s\u00a0list\u00a0<\/a>of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ mental health directories and hotlines<\/p>\n

Asian Mental Health Collective therapist\u00a0directory<\/a><\/p>\n

UndocuHealth mental health\u00a0directory<\/a><\/p>\n

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: Call or Text 988. Multiple language services available<\/p>\n

National Alliance on Mental Health: Call 1 (800) 950-6264 or Text NAMI to 741741<\/p>\n

BIPOC Blackline mental health hotline: 1 (800) 604-5841<\/p>\n

Visuals Editing by Alyssa Schukar at CatchLight.<\/p>\n

California Health Report is\u00a0part of the Mental Health Parity Collaborative, a group of newsrooms that are covering stories on mental health care access and inequities in the U.S. The partners on the collaborative include The Carter Center and newsrooms in select states across the country.<\/p>\n

This story was produced in partnership with\u00a0CatchLight<\/a> as part of their three-year Mental Health Visual Reporting Initiative<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The California Health Report<\/a> reports on communities across the state about health equity issues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This story originally appeared in the California Health Report. To those who knew him, Noah Silver was a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":302184,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,1011,75595,2093,51679],"class_list":["post-302183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-housing","tag-housing-programs","tag-mental-health","tag-schizophrenia"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/302184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}