PACIFIC CLINICS
Advancing Behavioral Healthcare
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
There is a strong need for effective, community-based behavioral health services in Los Angeles County, particularly among low-income individuals with serious mental illness – Pacific Clinics' target population. According to the Los Angeles Department of Mental Health, nearly 645,000 individuals, or 6.8% of the County's population, have a serious mental illness. Amongst residents living under 200% of the federal poverty level, approximately 9% suffer from serious mental illness, including more than 125,000 youth and 215,000 adults. As these statistics suggest, the majority of those suffering from serious mental illness in Los Angeles County are also living well below the poverty line.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Children, Youth and Families -
Caring for and protecting the needs of vulnerable children and youth has long been a focus of Pacific Clinics. At risk for neglect, abuse, homelessness and abandonment, these children’s severe behavioral problems frequently threaten their physical safety, mental stability and educational progress.
· Early Childhood Mental Health Services
· Intensive Outpatient Programs
· Comprehensive Assessment Program
· Programs for Older Children and Adolescents
Transitional Age Youth (TAY)
On the streets and out of options, the physical, emotional and mental well-being of homeless young adults is at risk every day. Many come from the foster care system or broken homes. Pacific Clinics provides help through a team of professionals including outreach specialists, clinicians, employment specialists and psychiatrists.
Adults and Families
Schizophrenia, bipolar, major depression and other severe and persistent mental illness affect the lives of millions of Americans. Pacific Clinics treats the whole person building on an appreciation and understanding of cultural differences, language needs, interests and abilities.
Older Adults, Families and Caregivers
Depression, dementia and delirium among seniors, often coupled with physical illness and isolation, compound the unique challenges of care for older adults. Family caregivers frequently experience emotional and mental distress. Pacific Clinics provides a coordinated program of care that includes case managers, consulting psychiatrists and social services which help older adults and their families.
Supportive Services
A safe, reliable place to live. A satisfying job. Managing money and paying one’s bills. These factors often play a significant role in recovery, wellness and independence. Pacific Clinics recognizes that in many cases, psychosocial rehabilitation means helping consumers to learn critical life skills, find employment and have a safe, stable place to call home.
Where we work
Accreditations
Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) - Behavioral Health - 3 Year Accreditation 2010
Affiliations & memberships
Association of Fundraising Professionals - Member 2005
External reviews

Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of people who received clinical mental health care
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
Pacific Clinics serves low-income and homeless individuals of all ages who struggle with serious mental health problems across Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Santa Clara and Ventura Counties.
Number of people in the area with access to affordable housing as a result of the nonprofit's efforts
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Supportive Services
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
In FY 2019-2020, Pacific Clinics needed to reduce housing placements due to the Covid-19 pandemic as we needed to ensure our clients were kept safe.
Number of meals served or provided
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
Supportive Services
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Pacific Clinics provide meals to low-income individuals receiving services at our Clubhouses, Drop-in Centers, Wellness Centers and Head Start programs. Head Start programs were closed 3/20-7/20.
Percentage of clients who report general satisfaction with their services
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Satisfaction is currently measured through a small sample survey administered by LA DMH. We are developing an agency-wide survey to measure satisfaction in 12 domains with first results by July 2019.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
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.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
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.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
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.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Pacific Clinics has transformed lives for over 95 years. Founded in 1926 as the Pasadena Child Guidance Clinic, Pacific Clinics now provides services in over 50 locations across Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Santa Clara 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 15,000 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 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.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
Pacific Clinics serves children, transitional age youth, families, adults, and older adults. We offer mental health, substance use treatment, and supportive services to Medi-Cal eligible individuals and families. Our diverse staff provides culturally and linguistically relevant services in over 22 languages to our region’s culturally and ethnically diverse populations. We provide services in over 50 locations across Los Angeles, Ventura, San Bernardino, Santa Clara and Orange Counties.
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How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
SMS text surveys, Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Case management notes, Constituent (client or resident, etc.) advisory committees,
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
According to two clients at one of our sites who had attended our CQAB (Consumer Quality Assurance Board) meeting, they reported that they are unable to access the building to get services. We advised them to complete the accessibility survey which prompted a report to the Divisional and Associate Divisional Director for that site. There had been a miscommunication related to locking the gates during business hours. Part of the complaint also involved addressing the insects and rodents outside the building, which was preventing clients from comfortably spending time outside.
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With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, CARF, accreditation,
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How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?
It is a collaborative process where the CQAB and the FACES (Families Assisting the Clinics to Enhance Services) regularly meet with our staff and agency leaders to provide feedback and influence policy. These committees were consulted in regard to how often we should assess clients' substance use. We had been assessing and documenting substance use risks every 6 months and these committees recommended our clinicians conduct these structured interviews quarterly. We made this change and, for over a year, did the assessments quarterly until there was too much burden on our clinical staff. As another example, our CQAB members participate in meetings at the county level and are sponsored by Pacific Clinics to attend statewide meetings and conferences, for example related to SB803.
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded,
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently,
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
PACIFIC CLINICS
Board of directorsas of 02/16/2022
Richard Dominguez
Richard Dominguez & Associates
Term: 2019 -
Gregory Bowman
Superintendent, Retired
Vincent DeRosa
Chairman, Picasso's Café
May Farr
Mental Health Advocate
Eric (Tony) Gronroos
CPA, MBT, HKG, LLP
Zaven Kazazian
Independent Consultant, Employee Benefit Plans
Judy Kwan
JD, Attorney at Law, Oracle
Jessica Mack
Manager, Energy Analysis & Customer Outreach, Southern California Edison
Richard Dominguez
Principal, Richard Dominguez & Associates
Jerry Winklhofer
Controller, Exer Urgent Care/ Providence Health Services
Russell Chung
Russ Chung Consulting
Arpita Chowdhuri
Former SVP, Capital Group
Jason Gupta
SVP, Trust Company of the West
Audrey Lee, JD
EVP and General Counsel, Starz
Nancy Pappas
North American Director of Graphic Art Sales, Xeikon
Edwin Yau, LCSW, EdD
Administrator, Los Angeles County Office of Education
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/28/2020GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.