Heart Forward Conversations from the Heart
The American mental health system is broken beyond repair. Rather than trying to tweak a system which fails everyone, it is time to commit to a bold vision for a better way forward. This podcast explores the American system against the plumb line of an international best practice, recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO), in Trieste, Italy. The 40-year old Trieste model demonstrates how a community-based treatment system upholds the human rights of the people served. The Trieste story is anti-institutional and models the therapeutic value of social connection. Topics will address contemporary challenges in the American failed mental health system as contrasted with the Italian approach toward accoglienza – or radical hospitality – as the underpinning of their remarkable culture of caring for people. Interviews will touch upon how the guiding principles of the Italian system – social recovery, whole person care, system accountability, and the human right to a purposeful life – are non-negotiable aspects if we are to have any hope of forging a new way forward in our American mental health system. This podcast is curated and hosted by Kerry Morrison, founder and project director of Heart Forward LA (https://www.heartforwardla.org/). Heart Forward is collaborating with Aaron Stern at Verdugo Sound as the technical partner in producing this podcast (https://www.verdugosound.com). Kerry Morrison is also the author of the blog www.accoglienza.us.
Heart Forward Conversations from the Heart
Ten (10) recommendations to shore up fragile LA County licensed residential facilities. Part Two of our conversation with The Future Organization
This is Part Two of a conversation with Leila Towry and Aimery Thomas of The Future Organization (TFO) about their recent year-long research study into Los Angeles County ARFs and RCFEs. These are commonly referred to as “board and care” homes, but the researchers make a case that the community and regulators should intentionally move away from that labelling as we attempt to forge new policy in this space.
The study was supported by an Initiative, involving the participation of Brilliant Corners, the LA County Department of Mental Health, the LA County Department of Health Services, and Genesis LA, funded by the California Community Foundation and Cedars Sinai.
In this interview, we discuss TFO’s findings relative to the connections between this segment of the housing market in LA County and our crisis of homelessness. We will explore how licensed facilities are not seen as part of the continuum of housing options in the “homeless services” sector, and, in fact, the federal department of Housing and Urban Development does not recognize licensed facilities as housing according to federal regulations which require individual leases.
As the study authors will assert, not recognizing the market of ARFs and RCFEs and the vulnerable populations they serve represents a blind spot in public policy discourse on ending structural homelessness.
We will also focus on just ten of the more than 50 recommendations offered in this report, across the domains of key players affecting outcomes for this Market – municipalities, Los Angeles County, the State’s Community Care Licensing Division that licenses and regulates facilities, and the facilities operators themselves. Los Angeles County owners and operators have been collectively advocating for change and improvement through a newly-formed organization, the Licensed Adult Residential Care Association, or LARCA.
Resources associated with this episode:
Here are some links to help you navigate this issue:
Summary of study findings from Brilliant Corners website re/ this study.
Full report, Serving our Vulnerable Populations: Los Angeles County Adult Residential Facilities and Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly, August 2023.
August 26, 2023 article in LA Times summarizing key finding of TFO report.
July 12, 2022 article in LA Times about continuing closure of board & care homes
Blog at Accoglienza.us