BOARD TO CONSIDER CORRECTIVE STEPS FOR CASA PACIFICA.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Daily News Staff Writer

County supervisors could adopt an action plan today designed to prevent embattled Casa Pacifica from losing its state license and restore the credibility of the children's crisis center.

The plan calls for increased funding, more stringent security, better staff training and heightened oversight at the children's residential home, which has been threatened with closure by the state Department of Social Services.

The center has been cited 63 times since it opened in July 1994, for such problems as unqualified staff, inadequate supervision and improper disciplinary procedures. The most serious incident took place in October 1996 when an unsupervised 9-year-old boy molested a 3-year-old boy.

In response to the state's threat, Casa Pacifica and county officials drafted an action plan of 31 recommendations that will be formally presented to the Ventura County Board of Supervisors today.

``We're building in both resources and accountability,'' said Randy Feltman, a deputy director with the Chief Administrative Office who sat on the advisory panel. ``It will improve the care by increasing both the level of service and the level of oversight for Casa Pacifica.''

Feltman said the first step is to shore up the finances of the private nonprofit shelter, which is the county's only facility for abused, neglected and abandoned infants, adolescents and teens.

Last year, Casa Pacifica ran up a $645,000 deficit because of unforeseen staffing costs and a drop in patient admissions, he said. That, in turn, reduced the amount of state and federal matching funds.

To help alleviate this debt, supervisors will be asked to lend the shelter $400,000. The money would be repaid over four years at 6 percent interest.

A committee is being formed to oversee the shelter's finances, he said.

The plan also calls for the county to spend more on administrative services and one-to-one crisis counseling, in addition to renewing several contracts between the shelter and county agencies.

In all, the county would spend an additional $727,460 in fiscal 1997-98, including the $400,000 loan.

Feltman said all but $62,000 has been set aside in the county budget.

Even without the loan, the county would be committing itself to spending an additional $330,000 on Casa Pacifica each year. The county already pays $700,000, or 15 percent, of the shelter's $5.6 million budget, and the state finances another 15 percent. Federal money picks up the remaining 70 percent.

The bulk of the new money - $275,000 - would enhance a program to assess and treat children in the long-term residential treatment during after-school hours.

While it increases revenue, the plan calls for Casa Pacifica to reduce its present spending by $271,000.

The shelter's nursery and its five staff members would be eliminated with youngsters under 2 years old being placed in foster homes, Feltman said.

Other suggestions in the plan include a revision of the existing interagency agreement among Casa Pacifica and various county agencies so that their respective roles and responsibilities can be clearly defined.

``These agencies have to spend more time communicating and collaborating on their services because they're interdependent,'' Feltman said.

Supervisor Susan Lacey, who helped draft the recommendations, said it was imperative to ``repair the system'' and get Casa Pacifica back on track.

``These are the immediate things we need to be doing,'' she said. ``The children are what this is all about. These are kids who've been abused in their own homes or by someone they should trust and we need to make sure the system that serves them does its job well.''