‘Living in complete chaos’: Families in mental health groups are out of control in Santa Clara County

When Daniel Costa left prison ten years ago, he may have regained his freedom, but his new living arrangements made it difficult to escape the life he was living. inside.

For years after his release, the county’s parole program placed Costa in a series of unsanctioned and unsupervised group homes scattered across San Jose. The food was poor, parolees found themselves crammed into large rooms and the lack of on-site surveillance left residents in fear “people will take yours” ,” said Costa.

“This power would not change my idea of ​​being a center,” Costa said.

Santa Clara County officials believe there are at least a hundred independent and private homes in housing estates throughout San Jose and the county. Many more are scattered throughout the Bay Area and all of California, but no one knows the exact number. They often remain legally incarcerated as well as those leaving mental health and substance abuse facilities.

Counties often rely on such services to house the most vulnerable, but workers are not required to obtain a license – meaning no maintenance for many homes, although they often receive public funding to pay for residents’ rent. . Disability rights advocates and local officials say that has left many employers in dire straits and, in some cases, unable to get the care they need.

“There are people who are living completely unscathed,” said Ronda Brown, a behavioral health specialist hired by the county in 2022 to lead an independent housing review and contribute to a potential plan. there to preside over the public meeting.

“If you’re looking for a quality home, you’re not going to find it if nobody’s inspecting it,” he told county officials at a March meeting.

According to public records, at least 20 properties that the county believes are private homes are being investigated for violations. Reports describe reports of mold and cockroach infestations, overcrowded bedrooms, illegal and unsafe construction, drug use, exposed wiring, and, in one case, bodily fluids as he was cleansed a month after the resident died.

Visits to two San Jose homes and interviews with five current and former residents revealed similar complaints, including mold, pests and unauthorized construction. Officials in San Jose, where the majority of such houses are located in the state, say some neighbors are frustrated by the frequent drug use and police activity.

Another reason for the lack of control is to reduce the administrative system, allowing independent living families to receive people quickly and cheaply, although it is very different, than the support homes supported by the community. Behavioral health experts say housing is an important option in areas with a severe shortage of affordable housing like San Jose and can help keep people out of trouble.

But unlike residential care facilities, which must be licensed by the state, private nursing homes — sometimes run by individual workers with little health care experience — are not required to. providing support services, including mental health care, or reminders to residents to take their medications.

That responsibility generally rests with citizen caseworkers, who can be overburdened by clients and may struggle to make frequent family visits, advocates said. Workers are often hired by the county or a nonprofit district, and they refer people to homes through a network of networks.

Government officials with the Department of Social Services did not directly answer the question of whether they have an opinion on how many private houses without licenses are operating across the country. When asked why the state chose not to license private nursing homes, the agency said it licenses facilities such as nursing homes “according to state law.” .”

At the urging of advocates, Santa Clara County agreed earlier this year to set aside $2 million to help independent residential users repair their properties. In exchange, officers and employees will agree to meet specific residency standards and allow regular inspections. The district has not yet had time to finalize the new program, officials said.

But starting next year, the county plans to begin inspecting every single-family home where residents receive rental assistance. Officials are still deciding how many homes to include. They could not say how much aid the district sends to such families. However, the county noted that it also has direct contracts to place people in at least 10 private, unlicensed shelters.

Susan Ellenberg, president of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, said the county should prioritize working to “attract more homeowners” to oversees by providing money for improvements and expanding the number of those contracts. directly owned and operated.

But even with all those efforts in mind, it’s still unclear how many homes may still fall through the cracks. Advocates are pushing for a plan that ensures all private housing is accountable to county officials.

Lorraine Zeller, a member of the task force advising the district on how to best use the $2 million, said: “Don’t focus on those who have contracts or who receive rental assistance. “You have to keep an eye on them all.”

Another worker, Nelson Muan, said he opened a private boarding house in a leafy area north of San Jose city a few years after he moved to the Philippines in 2006. His children who attend The school had just followed him to the United States, and Muan, who had worked at a licensed nursing home, decided to rent out the house to his family while providing rooms to tenants from mental health facilities.

“I didn’t qualify to buy a house, and I had to raise my children, so I had to do the best I could with that situation,” she said.

He said Muan costs about $700 a month for room and board, and nonprofits created by the county refer people to homes. He said the rent comes mostly from social security or disability payments, maintaining that he does not earn a profit. Now her children are grown up and moved away.

Muan eventually opened several houses in rental properties near San Jose. At one point, Muan said he had about 25 people living in twenty households. But residents were “unruly” and destroyed property, including setting fire to one house, and some stopped paying rent during the COVID-19 eviction, he said. Muan says the constant problems forced him to close everything except his first house.

According to court records, Muan has been evicted from four properties that appear to have been used as private residences since 2017. It is unclear what happened to the residents.

Muan’s original property is now in an eviction case and a newly opened code enforcement case. A resident and a lawyer who visited the property described being attacked by mold and insects and people living in unsanitary conditions in the basement.

Muan blamed the landlord for the poor conditions, explaining that he began withholding rent after the landlord refused to pay for repairs. Attempts to locate the owner have failed.

Muan’s sister also owns private houses. He is now a defendant in a wrongful death lawsuit alleging the tenant overdosed on a mixture of fentanyl, meth and other drugs at one of the properties. Efforts to reach Muan’s sister were also unsuccessful.

“We cannot control people’s behavior,” Muan said. And if they die in the house, it’s none of our business.

Momentum for Health, a Silicon Valley mental health provider funded in part by the county, is also a defendant in the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges the nonprofit placed the resident in an unsafe home that lacked “proper medical supervision and licensing.”