Casa Pacifica Continues to Lead the Fight Against the Youth Mental Health Crisis | Good for Santa Barbara

With the holiday season just around the corner, the spirit of giving is about to take center stage. On the Tuesday following Thanksgiving, Giving Tuesday encourages people worldwide to come together in the name of generosity, supporting causes that matter most to them.

This year, Noozhawk invites you to get involved and give back locally. Our Giving Guide makes it easy to discover local organizations that could use your support, helping you make a lasting impact as 2024 comes to a close.

Visit our Good for Santa Barbara Nonprofit Section to find opportunities to donate and spread kindness throughout the community this holiday season!

In this interview, Noozhawk spoke with Roya Alt, Communications Director at Casa Pacifica to learn more about how the organization became the largest nonprofit provider of children’s and adolescent mental health services in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.

Casa Pacifica

Question: What is the name of your nonprofit, and what is its mission?

Answer: Casa Pacifica Centers for Children and Families. Our mission is to inspire hope and nurture mental health and well-being of children, young adults and families to realize their full potential.

Q: What motivated the creation of your nonprofit?

A: In the mid-1980s, a group of Ventura County citizens became concerned about the lack of services for children removed from their homes by Child Protective Services.

That concern evolved into a vision for a campus-based, 24-hour center offering a wide range of assessment, crisis care, medical, and educational services for abused and neglected children. The vision, in turn, spawned a creative public/private partnership that raised $10 million needed to build Casa Pacifica.

Today, Casa Pacifica is the largest non-profit provider of children’s and adolescent mental health care services in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties.

We specialize in treating children and youth with complex mental health challenges including anxiety, depression and emotional dysregulation.

Our Camarillo, Santa Barbara and Santa Maria offices work with more than 2,000 at-risk children, families and young adults annually in outpatient, residential, home and community-based settings.

Casa Pacifica’s 24-hour treatment programs and community-based services are fully accredited by the Council on Accreditation, a nationally recognized, independent accreditor of community-based behavioral health care and social service organizations.

Our Non-Public School is fully accredited under the requirements of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

Q: How is your nonprofit primarily funded, and what are its biggest needs right now?

A: Each year Casa Pacifica must raise 10-13% of its budget in private funds to fill the gap between what it receives from government contracts and the actual costs of providing its programs and services, including several programs that receive little or no government funding.

Casa Pacifica has long been supported by both public and private foundation to fulfill its mission.

Q: What types of events or programs do you run to engage your community and raise funds?

A: As a non-profit organization, we rely on the generosity of our donors and supporters to power our mission of creating bright futures for at-risk children, families and young adults. We host four fundraising events annually to support our comprehensive mental health programs and services:

12th Annual Top Chef Yummie Dinner – May 2, 2025
32nd Annual Angels Wine, Food & Brew Festival – June 1, 2025
Care for Kids Golf Classic – September 2025
Angels Spotlight on Style Fashion Show – November 2025

Supporters can also help carry our mission forward by donating monthly, becoming a Corporate Leader, joining our Angels auxiliary group or volunteering on campus. There are many ways to support Casa Pacifica! Learn how you can get involved by visiting our website.

Q: How can people get involved with your nonprofit or volunteer?

A: Casa Pacifica is overseen by a committed volunteer Board of Directors who come from a variety of professions and businesses and lend their expertise to the governance of the organization and to operational issues that can benefit from their involvement.

Our executive leadership team provides day-to-day leadership in all operations, works to advance the mission of Casa Pacifica through strategic program initiatives, and assists the Board of Directors in forging the overall direction and growth of the corporation.

With combined experience of over 150 years in human services leadership, the executive leadership is poised to pursue opportunities for both improvement and advancement of agency operations.

Q: What sets your nonprofit apart from similar organizations?

A: Casa Pacifica is the largest non-profit provider of children’s and adolescent mental health services in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. Our outcomes consistently exceed national averages. After leaving Casa Pacifica:
100% of youth are living in a home environment
96% of youth attend school
99.5% have no contact with law enforcement
99.5% are not psychiatrically hospitalized

Q: Could you share a story or two about individuals whose lives have been positively impacted by your organization?

A: Suicidal ideation, low self-esteem and persistent depression brought fifteen-year-old Norah to Casa Pacifica. The high schooler was being bullied and was withdrawing from friends, classmates and things that previously brought her joy. She frequently expressed a desire to harm herself. Her mother’s battle with cancer was also taking a toll on her emotional health.

Her family was growing distraught over Norah’s low self-esteem and her tendency to spend hours alone in her room glued to her computer.

A large part of every child’s journey at Casa Pacifica is a comprehensive assessment to determine what’s behind challenging behaviors and provide appropriate, individualized treatment. In Norah’s case, Therapeutic Behavioral Services (TBS) was identified as an effective approach to managing her fluctuating moods and improving her coping skills. TBS is a short-term program that focuses on changing a child’s behavior, while emphasizing the child’s strengths.

As part of treatment, the therapeutic team works with parents or caregivers, in addition to the youth, to increase successful behaviors and learn new ways of reducing conflict. Parents – who participate in regular therapeutic sessions as part of their child’s treatment – are encouraged to practice the skills with their child either during therapy or at home.

Norah was fortunate to have the support of her family, especially her father, who tried to take an empathetic approach in understanding Norah’s anger and unhappiness.

Although initially wary of TBS and reluctant to open up, Norah eventually began to build trust with her care team, who were focused on increasing her self-esteem and self-acceptance. After several weeks she learned to tap into replacement behaviors, such as mindfulness, to reduce her self-doubt and her preference to isolate. She was also given an opportunity to meet with an individual who listened to her discuss her emotions without judgment. Norah credits this experience with beginning to feel more hopeful about treatment and her own future.

After four months, her family and care team noticed a significant change. Norah no longer expressed a desire to end her life or to harm herself. She became more interested in school and in reacquainting with friends. She began to spend less time alone in her room on the computer and more time with her parents. She enjoyed playing paintball with her brother and smiled more than her family ever remembered. Today Norah is back in school. She has established a safe group of friends for support and has a more positive outlook. “I have quick thoughts now about self-harm; I no longer have a plan,” she says. “I’m more motivated to do things. I take more of an interest in life. Casa Pacifica gave me the tools to help me face challenges, and I will always be thankful.”

Q: How do you share your nonprofit’s impact and updates with the public?

A: We love sharing information about our programs, annual fundraisers, staff milestones and volunteer opportunities on social media! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube or visit www.casapacifica.org to sign up for our monthly newsletter. Donor support makes our vital work possible and there’s always a heartwarming success story for our supporters to enjoy!

Q: What makes your organization trustworthy for donors, and are there other ways people can support your cause beyond donations?

A: Casa Pacifica carries out our mission with a deep commitment to accountability and transparency. As a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization, we hold ourselves accountable to our donors, sponsors, community partners and all who share in our belief that every youth deserves the chance to reach their potential and fulfill their dreams.

Our strong performance is reflected in our ratings by the nation’s top charity watchdog organizations. including Charity Navigator and Candid.

Q: Can you highlight one immediate goal and one long-term vision your nonprofit aims to achieve in the next year?

A: We aspire to end the youth mental health crisis. Our vision is to create a future where every child and youth who faces a mental health challenge can thrive.

Q: Is there anything important or unique about your nonprofit that we haven’t covered yet?

A: Casa Pacifica’s Safe Alternatives for Treating Youth (SAFTY) is a mobile crisis response service available seven days a week from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM to all Santa Barbara County children and youth up to the age of 21. SAFTY can be reached at 1-888-334-2777.

SAFTY provides quick and accessible service to families by providing specialized crisis intervention, in-home support and linkage to county alcohol, drug and mental health services or other appropriate services. The program’s goal is to prevent psychiatric hospitalization and decrease the use of emergency rooms and law enforcement for mental health crisis by helping families develop improved conflict resolution skills, communication skills, and developing plans for managing crisis in the future.

Click here to support Casa Pacifica’s mission of helping at-risk children, their families and young adults thrive.

Check out Noozhawk’s Guide to Giving for a full list of nonprofits to donate to this giving season.

If you would like to include your nonprofit in our Good for Santa Barbara section and Giving Guide click HERE.