​A 110-year-old LA County mental health complex is getting new life

Six decaying, vacant buildings on the site of the 162-acre Metropolitan State Hospital grounds in Norwalk are being turned into a mental health treatment village with 162 beds for troubled youth and those experiencing homelessness.

The long-empty buildings, part of a 110-year-old state mental hospital complex, will not be demolished but instead are being remodeled as new housing that combines stable living with wrap-around services for treatment of residents with drug addiction and mental health illnesses, authorities announced at a groundbreaking ceremony Friday.

“This project is going to save lives. We are going to help people that need help. Instead of sitting empty, these buildings will be a place for recovery, care and stability. This campus here in Norwalk is making history,” State Sen. Bob Archuleta, D-Norwalk, said Friday.

It is a $107 million project being built by Los Angeles County and various state agencies, with full support of the city of Norwalk. About $65 million comes from Proposition 1, approved by voters two years ago to provide funds for behavioral health facilities with an emphasis on helping those suffering from mental illness and living on the street. The rest comes from various state and county grants.

The Los Angeles County Care Community is the first such project to be funded by 2024’s Proposition 1, which allows the state to fund mental health beds and treatment centers throughout the state.

Archuleta’s Senate Bill 1336 from two years ago, after being signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, paved the way for the state to lease the buildings to L.A. County on 13 acres of the hospital property. The law allowed a lease for 55 years with a nonprofit or a local government to create housing and psychiatric treatment facilities.

There are 72,308 people living without a permanent shelter in Los Angeles County, according to the most recent homeless count numbers.

But it’s not enough just to find housing for about 72,000 homeless people in the county. That’s because surveys indicated at least 25% of people living on the streets have a serious mental illness, such as psychotic disorders and schizophrenia. Thus, housing without behavioral treatment won’t be successful, experts say.

A county report said the biggest barrier to providing mental health services to homeless people is finding beds. Developing new facilities is difficult because of a lack of available land, the report concluded.

“One of the biggest challenges we face in Los Angeles County is that we simply do not have enough places where people can get the compassionate, competent mental health care they need,” Fourth District Supervisor Janice Hahn said in opening remarks Friday. “Our hospitals are overwhelmed. Too often people end up cycling from the streets to our emergency rooms and our jails. That is exactly why today is so important.”

The project does not requiring tearing down the old buildings.

“The public always says we should be using vacant buildings to create mental health facilities. And remodeling instead of building from the ground up is faster and cheaper,” said Hahn, who introduced the idea to Archuleta and the state.

The state-county partnership is innovative and was first seen as not doable, said Archuleta. But that changed when his bill was approved and signed by the governor and state agencies caught the vision and a county blueprint for their use.

“We are excited to partner with L.A. County by making this portion of our campus available. It begins a new chapter in the long history of this hospital,” said Stephanie Clendenin, director of the Department of State Hospitals.

Remodeling already has begun on two buildings, which will be completed by December 2027, said Mark Pestrella, director of L.A. County Public Works. More buildings will be finished in early 2028.

“There is healing built into every detail,” he said.

The county is working with architects to remodel each building to turn them into modern interim and permanent living quarters with treatment services. He said the buildings are of concrete construction, which is a good thing. Some of the roadblocks include removal of asbestos, he said.

While touring one old building that once treated patients with mental health problems, Pestrella said the rehab job is one the county can do but it will not be easy.

“It is a heavy duty lift,” he said.

Hahn’s office reported that the project offers three levels of care:

• Two locked mental health rehab centers for young adults ages 18 to 25. These will provide 32 beds within a secure, treatment-based setting for those patients with the highest level of mental health needs.

• One interim housing facility with 70 beds serving young adults. These are patients who are stable but require short-term housing along with wrap-around mental health treatment services.

• Two permanent housing facilities totaling 60 apartments for adults living with mental illness who previously were homeless. This population needs long-term housing and access to ongoing care.

• One building will provide a communal space for the residents of the two permanent apartments. Inside there will be a kitchen, a computer lounge and offices for case managers. The outside areas are for recreational activities that support healing and well-being.

The state-county partnership is seen as a model for more beds for mental health treatment for homeless Californians in other parts of the state, Hahn said.

“It is a model for counties across the state to follow,” she said. “Its success will spur the state to look at other vacant properties.”