PACIFIC CLINICS

Pacific Clinics' mission, Building on people's strengths, we deliver quality behavioral and mental healthcare services, reflects our person-centered and recovery-oriented approach. We provide each of our clients appropriate mental health intervention with additional supportive services, such as case management, housing support, substance abuse programs and employment assistance. Our goal is to empower individuals so they can reach their highest level of functioning and the best quality of life possible.

As part of its core values, Pacific Clinics promotes respect and understanding for the specific cultural needs of our consumers and their families. Southern California is home to a wide array of cultures, races, and ethnicities, each with a unique understanding and belief system related to mental illness. These beliefs can affect an individual's willingness to accept care, and impact who they will seek it from. A crucial component to our success in serving diverse populations is our commitment to hiring a highly-skilled, highly-diverse staff reflective of the individuals we serve, while also ensuring that we provide them with the trainings and tools to be successful.

Another primary initiative at Pacific Clinics is the integration of behavioral and physical healthcare. The reason for this is a growing body of research indicating that persons with serious mental illness die, on average, 25 years younger than their counterparts in the general population, and frequently suffer from a wide-range of chronic health conditions. With the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, there has been an increased push in recent years for behavioral health specialists, primary care providers, families and patients/clients to work in partnership to improve physical/mental health outcomes and quality of life for individuals with chronic health and mental health conditions.

Mental health problems are frequently intertwined with substance use disorders. Experts estimate that at least 60% of people battling one of these conditions are battling both. As part of Pacific Clinics' comprehensive behavioral health services, we offer substance use disorder prevention and treatment services for adults and youth. When a dual diagnosis is at play, it is imperative that treatment addresses both conditions simultaneously. When a person receives treatment for only one condition, the other is highly likely to re-emerge and cause relapse or other complications. When both issues are addressed in the same setting, an individual has a much higher chance of sustaining long-term recovery.

Over its long history, Pacific Clinics has set new standards of care in early intervention, multicultural and integrated substance use disorder/mental health services, and treatment and recovery programs for individuals of all ages and backgrounds diagnosed with mental illness.

At the heart of our organization is our focus on the total well-being of our clients. All individuals are empowered to participate fully in their personal treatment plans. Additionally, Pacific Clinics focuses on the family and other personal relationships as integral to treatment. Through education, inclusion, participation and involvement, families become important partners in our clients' care.

Pacific Clinics' supportive services model is designed to provide integrated services that address an individual or family's needs in a holistic manner. Many of our clients suffer from co-occurring substance use disorders, and virtually all are struggling in other dimensions of life such as homelessness, unemployment, physical illness or other barriers to recovery and wellness. We help clients to confront the challenges of their illnesses and avoid crises that can disrupt their healing and put their lives on hold.

The security of stable housing is a necessity for individuals to recover from mental illness or substance use disorders. In collaboration with state and federal programs, eligible Pacific Clinics clients are placed in subsidized housing with behavioral health and supportive services. Recognizing that being employed is an important factor in the recovery of people living with mental illness, our Employment Services program assists clients in finding jobs and ensuring they are job-ready.

To provide clients with comprehensive care to address their mental and physical health needs, Pacific Clinics employs Health Navigators who help clients navigate the healthcare system with a goal to become self-sufficient and live longer, more fulfilling lives. After working with a Navigator, clients have shown improved health indicators, including a significant reduction in overall bodily pain, improved use of medications and reductions in the use of emergency rooms and urgent care facilities.

In addition, Pacific Clinics has certified Substance Use Disorder Counselors as well as trained mental health professionals working together under one care plan to serve individuals with substance abuse/mental illness diagnoses. Pacific Clinics is a State Certified Drug and Alcohol Treatment Provider.

Pacific Clinics is very unique in the range of mental health services it is able to provide. Unlike most agencies, we have the capacity to provide care across the age-spectrum, from newborn to older adults. We are also unique in the continuum of care we offer, including housing, employment, case management, and substance abuse services.

Pacific Clinics is a pioneer in culturally-responsive care. We have developed specialized services and programs for a wide variety of underserved ethnic populations to ensure they have access to, and feel comfortable receiving, the care they need. Pacific Clinics' Asian Pacific Family Center in Rosemead was created 30 years ago with the aim of providing advocacy and mental health services to the emerging population of Asian immigrant families in the San Gabriel Valley. Pacific Clinics' Latino Services division has a particular focus on program development and educational materials for the Latino immigrant and monolingual population. In addition, Pacific Clinics provides school-based Armenian services in the City of Glendale through its Hye-Wrap program. While these programs and services represent only a small segment of our culturally-focused programming, they exemplify our steadfast commitment to serving our diverse clientele to the best of our abilities. We are also a leader in the development of a culturally responsive mental and behavioral health workforce. Pacific Clinics Training Institute, which trains nearly 700 internal staff and 400 external customers each year in new innovative practices and approaches, is one of our most important assets.

Pacific Clinics collaborates with a number of community, educational and government partners that assist the agency in providing community-based, culturally-responsive and consumer-driven mental health services. These partners provide key stakeholder perspectives on ways to enact principles of cultural competency and the needs and concerns of cultural groups regarding mental health services. They also play a key role in our efforts to prepare tomorrow's healthcare workforce and address the shortage of high-skilled, multi-disciplinary, ethnically diverse mental health workers in California.

Pacific Clinics has transformed lives for over 90 years. Founded in 1926 as the Pasadena Child Guidance Clinic, Pacific Clinics now provides services in over 60 locations across Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Ventura Counties. Our free or low-cost services support individuals and families throughout the lifespan, including children, youth, transitional age youth, adults and older adults. We serve over 20,000 clients annually.

Over the decades, we've continually evolved to meet the emergent needs of our expanding, diverse community with the addition of dual diagnosis services, multicultural programs, employment services, homeless and housing services, health navigation and the Pacific Clinics Training Institute. In 2013, in recognition that mental health issues are often rooted in early childhood, Pacific Clinics expanded to support young children ages 0-5 through Head Start and Early Head Start. These programs provide comprehensive early childhood education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children and their families. All students are screened for mental health issues and referred to appropriate services within our organization.

As we look ahead to the future, Pacific Clinics envisions organizational growth to continue to improve the quality of life of men and women with severe mental illness and children with serious emotional disturbances. Our Board of Directors recently adopted PC 2020, the agency's new three-year Strategic Plan. The plan establishes our mission-driven, consumer-centered programs and multicultural services, delivered through evidence-based practices and monitored by measurable outcomes. Strategic initiatives include:
• Focusing on whole person care by improving the integration of behavioral health and physical care;
• Ensuring a continuum of care across a full range of ages, cultures, languages and ethnicities;
• Addressing mental health and substance use disorders concurrently;
• Growing our services to address the significant homeless population in our service areas;
• Delivering high quality early childhood education programs through classroom excellence, parent engagement and supportive services;
• Expanding public policy and advocacy efforts to support the best interests of our consumers and our organization; and
• Establishing strategic collaborations, partnerships and alliances that advance our mission and impact.