HOUSING COMPLEX FOR NEEDY ENDORSED.

Byline: Krystn Shrieve Staff Writer

VENTURA - With the county's homeless shelter already set to move to Camarillo in June, Supervisor Frank Schillo said that building a housing project for the mentally ill on the same site could create a complex for some of the area's needier residents.

The Board of Supervisors is scheduled today to discuss the future of the 17 acres of county land on Lewis Road - a site that previously has been considered for a new juvenile justice facility but is now being looked at for social services.

``That land is valuable and we need to have a master plan that includes all the options,'' Schillo said Monday. ``There are some potential uses on that site, including a homeless shelter, but I don't want to use 17 acres just for that group.''

Supervisor Frank Schillo, who pitched the most recent proposal to build housing for the mentally ill, said the RAIN homeless shelter - which had been planning to relocate there - complements the proposal.

He wants to create plans for a campus that could include a homeless shelter and a variety of social service facilities. The plan would be in place in case a pending environmental impact report shows the site would be inappropriate for a juvenile justice center.

``Each one of these facilities could have their own area and their own style of buildings and their own type of security,'' Schillo said. ``It could be like a campus.''

In addition to a homeless shelter, Schillo hopes to include a battered women's shelter, an employment referral program, a medical clinic and a veterans service center.

He proposes using tobacco settlement money and private funding to build housing - possibly condominiums or apartments - for 200 people with mental illnesses.

``The idea is that we can pool our resources and provide more than what we would have individually,'' said Patricia Kosich, a psychiatric social worker who has been working on housing for the mentally ill.

The property on Lewis Road is between Las Posadas and Casa Pacifica - two other housing facilities for people with mental illnesses.

It is one of five proposed sites for a new $40.5 million juvenile justice facility, but officials last summer said they prefer a 40-acre tract in Saticoy.

Deputy Administrative Officer Terry Dryer, who is in charge of facilities planning, said the county hopes to select a site for the justice facility in April and complete the EIR. She said the 17-acre site isn't a top choice.

``There appear to be a couple of other locations that might be better suited for the juvenile justice center because they're larger,'' Dryer said. ``So if it's not used for the JJC, then Supervisor Schillo wants to make sure we're prepared with another plan.''

The property housed the Association of Retarded Citizens of Ventura County, which moved out in August 1998. The RAIN homeless shelter - temporarily located an old office building at the Camarillo Airport - plans to move to that location in late June.

``Where we are now at the Camarillo Airport we have no kitchen and we only have two showers,'' said Kathy Jenks who oversees the shelter. ``It was never designed to house people. People have been doing their cooking on barbecues.''

The temporary shelter houses 55 to 65 people and Jenks said that with renovations, the former ARC building could house 120 people and provide a kitchen facility and classroom space for tutoring and computer computer classes.

``Many of the services Supervisor Schillo wants to include are things we bring to our program right now,'' Jenks said. ``It makes sense to provide them for everyone on the campus.''