Innovative Programs for Successful Living
A Message from our Executive Director
"Therefore, be it resolved that the Board of Directors and Staff protect the unique qualities of this corporation and keep in mind always our responsibility to the people that we serve and that our services be rendered with clear thought and a heartfelt commitment...that Sanctuary Psychiatric Centers continue as a corporation dedicated to exploration, fresh approaches and supporting the innovation and boldness of its members... that we guard carefully the unique quality of this corporation and keep in mind always our great responsibility to the people that we serve and that our services be dispensed according to the highest ideals of humanitarianism." "The small group of founders, comprising interested lay persons, some serving as paraprofessionals, some not, former psychiatric patients and persons with professional expertise and experience, were concerned: that the high cost and limited availability of high quality mental health services made it impossible for many persons in distressed states of mind to receive the help they so badly needed; that many people were being unnecessarily hospitalized and inappropriately treated with psychiatric drugs; that the high recidivism rates and the testimony of patients and professionals alike powerfully justified continued innovation in thought and delivery of services to persons involved in schizophrenic episodes and similar experiences; and that even the small, well-staffed psychiatric hospitals could not provide a non-authoritarian and non-hierarchical organization capable of the flexibility of response that allowed for sufficient time and energy for the issues of a resident/patient to be acknowledged and worked through during recovery from the height of crisis. We decided to further the attitude that the crisis in which the residents have found themselves are growth processes from which, when properly guided within a nourishing environment, a person may emerge feeling more confident and better integrated to pursue a way of life which he or she feels to be fulfilling." "We believe that we must strive to preserve the unique quality of this organization as it was conceived by its founders."Sanctuary Psychiatric Centers of Santa Barbara (SPCSB) was established in 1976 as a not-for-profit corporation under the name Sanctuary House of Santa Barbara, Inc., providing Santa Barbara with a residential treatment program for severely mentally disabled adults. It began operations as a six-bed facility. Since that time SPCSB has evolved into a comprehensive community based array of treatment programs whose unique features include: (1) the provision of a range of services, along the entire post-hospitalization and alternative-to-hospitalization continuum of treatment and housing needs for the mentally ill; and (2) the ability to partner with other housing and service agencies and to combine multiple sources of private, local, state and federal grants and low-interest loans in order to increase the number of facilities available to the mentally ill and to extend more services to them. The services include: a residential treatment center; "satellite" semi-supervised transitional programs; "graduate" supported independent living programs; an apartment complex comprised of subsidized low-income housing for persons with mental disabilities; a day treatment/partial hospitalization and family counseling center; comprehensive dual diagnosis treatment; pre-vocational \vocational services; and individualized in-home supportive services. At SPCSB we believe that the quality of our programs reflects our responsiveness to client needs and that recovery is indeed possible for individuals with mental illness. Initially, we assist clients in becoming aware that there is light beyond the darkness and tragedy that these ailments can bring. We also help instill the ideas of empowerment and self-advocacy in each of our client-consumers through a carefully planned set of programs and individual supports. We help clients realize that consumer empowerment is about being able to advocate for oneself and others in a way that is strong and life-affirming. To that end we involve our clients in virtually all of the decisions that affect their lives. While every component of treatment planning and goal setting is finalized by licensed professional staff, it is always done in concert with our clients and reflects the needs that they have expressed. Our treatment programs provide a normalized living environment which significantly reduces the need for further hospitalization, and most importantly, minimizes the onset of chronicity. These programs are designed to meet a variety of clinical needs ranging from intensive, structured treatment to independent living with a minimum of therapeutic supervision and support. All of our services provide the opportunity for individuals to develop independent living and socialization skills and to make use of vocational and educational assistance; these services provide a cost-effective alternative to hospital-based programs. The provision of stable, low-cost housing along with supportive services in the post-residential treatment phase allows for maximum reintegration into the community and independent life-style. Our major objectives are:
Barry R. Schoer
Executive Director
