Teresa Pasquini has spent decades trying to keep her son alive as he struggles with serious mental illness. After years of advocacy, giving a speech at the groundbreaking for the Brookside Mental Health Rehabilitation Center (MHRC) was a bittersweet moment for her.
Pasquini’s son, Danny Pasquini, has been detained for being a danger to himself or others more than 40 times. He has attempted suicide and has been hospitalized, homeless, and in jail.
The MHRC, a 45-bed locked residential facility being built at 847 Brookside Drive in Richmond, would have been helpful years ago when Pasquini was trying to get help for her son. Instead of being treated close to home, he was sent to facilities far away.
“When Danny’s illness came, we made the decision [that] my job was gonna be keeping him alive,” Pasquini told Richmondside, “and to learn to navigate the system.” She soon learned that there weren’t enough resources anywhere — be it schools or the local healthcare and judicial systems — to help him.
There came a time where she felt like he needed more help than she could provide. “So we did the best we could to do that, which was to get him in a hospital,” Pasquini said. But there were not enough hospital beds in Contra Costa County, so he was admitted to facilities far away from home.
“Danny was placed in 11 or 12 counties over the last 20 plus years,” Pasquini said, “and that’s because Contra Costa was the only large county that did not have a secure mental health rehabilitation center.”
County building its first residential mental health rehabilitation center
When Brookside MHRC opens in June 2027 it will be the county’s first such facility, and it means patients can be more seamlessly connected with local nonprofits, which can offer support, resources, and employment. Such resources can help patients transition successfully to life after treatment. (Right now the closest such hospitals are in Fremont and Morgan Hill.)
Local locked facilities can also make it easier for families to visit and stay involved in a patient’s care, which can improve their loved one’s health. “ My husband and I could afford to drive to these out-of-county placements to visit our son. Other families could not,” said Pasquini, and that is an equity issue.
Brookside MHRC will be converted from the existing Brookside Adult Shelter at 847 Brookside Drive using an $18.6 million state grant. The new locked facility will treat people with serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and severe bipolar disorder. Contra Costa Health estimates that the facility will serve 95 residents a year. Staffing at the center will include psychiatrists, nurses, mental health therapists, peer counselors, and other administrative staff.
crisis team : a police alternative in some cases
Brookside MHRC will provide intensive support and “extended stabilization” to those being discharged from state hospitals, jails, and other locations. The average length of stay is likely to be nine to 12 months, according to Contra Costa Health. The facility has a trauma-informed design, including a meditation room and walking paths, and patients can control their own room temperature and lighting.
The residents will have access to therapy, vocational counseling and classes in independent living skills, a Contra Costa Health spokesperson said.
There’s debate in mental health community about locked-down model
But there’s a fierce debate in the mental health community about the role of locked mental health facilities. Advocates for institutionalized care argue that such facilities are better than jails or the ultimate worst possible outcome: morgues. Those against institutionalized care warn about overreach and would prefer to see funding go toward alternative care models.
In the current system, people with severe mental illness are often hospitalized. If a person is deemed to be a danger to themselves or others, they are usually not given a choice in the matter. Patients are stabilized in a hospital, typically with medication.
After the immediate stabilization, there is an effort to move some patients out of hospitals and into locked residential facilities which still offer medication management, therapy, and supervision while allowing for more autonomy. Brookside MHRC falls into this category and will be considered a “step-down” from hospitalization. From there, people can be discharged to day programs. Ultimately, the goal is for people to return home to their communities and be able to manage their symptoms with doctor and therapy visits.
“There is definitely a rising abolitionist movement that is against forced hospitalization.”
— Chris Tarrant, associate behavior health director, William Jenkins Health Center
“There is definitely a rising abolitionist movement that is against forced hospitalization,” Chris Tarrant (they/them) told Richmondside. Tarrant, a licensed clinical social worker, is the associate behavioral health director at the William Jenkins Health Center in Richmond.
“There needs to be sufficient interventions prior to hospitalization, such as having intensive outpatient support, and residential facilities or residential supports that are community-based, which are not hospitalizations or locked facilities,” Tarrant said.
The other “Dannys” of Richmond
Close to 20% of Richmond residents experienced frequent mental distress, and about 15% of residents engaged in binge drinking in 2023, according to the most recently available CDC data.
Regina Gilligan, a Richmond Annex resident for 26 years, illustrates how both of these factors can impact a whole neighborhood.
Gilligan’s neighbor has a serious mental illness complicated by alcohol abuse. The man was doing well when he was living with his parents but after they died he started drinking more, Gilligan told Richmondside.
The dual diagnosis of mental illness and substance abuse is common. According to a 2024 national survey, 21.2 million American adults have co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorder.
Where to get mental health help
- Lifelong William Jenkins Health Center, 150 Harbour Way, Richmond. Therapists available. Psychiatric medications are typically prescribed by primary care doctors.
- West County Adult and Children’s Mental Health Services provided by Contra Costa Health, 13585 San Pablo Ave. San Pablo. Therapists, psychiatrists, and peer support specialists available.
- Portia Bell Hume Behavioral Health and Training Center, 3095 Richmond Parkway, Ste. 201, Richmond. Therapists available.
- Familias Unidas, 205 39th St., Richmond. Therapists available, with a focus on the Latinx community.
- Contra Costa Crisis Center, (800) 833-2900. Provides 24/7 counseling services.
- A3 Miles Hall Community Crisis Hub. (844) 844-5544. Provides 24/7 counseling services to those in crisis.
Additional resources: NAMI Contra Costa Count, ASMI Alameda County
Gilligan said that her neighbor’s erratic behavior can be frightening. She said one time he was annoyed with the crows outside his house and began shooting at them with a gun.
When Gilligan’s grandkids came to visit, they usually did not play outside because the man was riding around the block on his dirt bike. “It was scary. But I didn’t feel like I could say, ‘Hey, this is scaring the kids.’ Because I just didn’t wanna engage with him,” Gilligan said.
Gilligan was also hesitant to call the police because she had seen a wellness check turn into a tragedy. She remembers selling Girl Scout cookies with her daughter decades ago when they met a neighbor down on his luck. He had lost his job and was having a hard time finding a new one while caring for his young kids at home.
One day, his partner called the police due to a suspected domestic dispute, and “they killed him,” Gilligan said.
“He’s having a meltdown. He’s having a breakdown. He’s been out of work for almost a year and feels horrible about himself. He didn’t deserve to die,” Gilligan said.
Such tragedies aren’t unheard of in Richmond. Earlier this month, police officers who were called to help the county’s A3 mental health team perform a wellness check were greeted with 30 rounds of gunfire, Richmond police said, forcing the Key Boulevard neighborhood to be locked down for hours. One officer was injured when he was struck by a bullet.
And, in 2025, police officers were involved in two fatal shootings of suspects whose families confirmed that they had known mental health issues.
Gilligan said that if there are mental health resources in Richmond, then they are not well known. She just learned about Richmond’s Community Crisis Response Program, now known as ROCK (Reach Out With Compassion and Kindness). The program was established about five years ago but just began responding to calls last March. She did not know that the Brookside MHRC being built until she was contacted by Richmondside.
“I would say nobody here knows about [ROCK],” Gilligan said. Flyers and information about mental health resources should be posted in public places, like groceries and gas stations, Gilligan said.
“The resources have to be known,” she emphasized.
Possible mental health treatment alternatives
Tarrant started working as a therapist in Contra Costa County in 2019. Since then, Tarrant has seen patients facing increasing immigration-related and economic stress. “Mental health is such an intersectional issue,” Tarrant said, pointing out that housing insecurity and public policy impact symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Some patients appreciate being removed from their surroundings, Tarrant said. They gave the example of a postpartum mother with psychosis who was having thoughts of wanting to hurt her infant. That mother was grateful to be in a hospital knowing her baby would be safe, Tarrant said.
However, other patients “feel like the care that they have received in facilities has been even more traumatizing than taking the risk of continuing to be on the street,” Tarrant said.
Tarrant previously worked at Disability Rights California, an advocacy organization that prioritizes helping those with disabilities get care in their own homes and avoid being institutionalized.
“ We don’t need to relive our horrific past of state hospitals where disabled individuals were abandoned and died on these grounds and are buried even to this day in unmarked graves,” Tarrant said.
“We don’t need to return to that era.”
Instead of funding locked mental health facilities, Tarrant offers a different solution.
“If we had greater access to things like intensive outpatient services, which Medi-Cal unfortunately doesn’t cover in Contra Costa County, we may see interventions that could prevent people from needing to be in these facilities to begin with,” Tarrant said.
They cite several resources to help patients stay in their homes, such as state-funded In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS), intensive therapy, and case workers coordinating housing and other essential services.
Tarrant knows these supports may not be enough for all patients. When asked about Richmond residents being sent to other counties to receive a higher level of care, Tarrant said, “I can understand the argument to say we need something local so that people are still within [the] community.”
But does the community want a locked facility, generally speaking?
“I think most of us would say we would rather there was another option,” Tarrant said.
Looking ahead: Building a better mental health system
Pasquini agrees with Tarrant in theory but said that locked residential facilities are still needed while community mental health services are inadequately funded and staffed.
“We haven’t cut the jail-based level of care. We haven’t reduced the homeless population,” Pasquini said.
While larger debates about public funding of social services play out, “We want every level of bed. We need every level of care available,” Pasquini said, or the severely mentally ill will continue being sent to “jails, prisons, and morgues.”
Both Pasquini and Tarrant agree that there are not enough resources for those with serious mental illness and that a continuum of care has to be built to support those with all degrees of mental health illness.
“”
“When Danny’s illness came, we made the decision [that] my job was gonna be keeping him alive.”
— Teresa Pasquini
Pasquini tried her hardest to keep her son from being hospitalized against his will.
“We would try everything in our power to prevent calling 911,” she said. “We would try to do everything we could to support him at home, to support him voluntarily.”
Pasquini remembered how a publicly-appointed conservator, someone who makes decisions for seriously mentally ill people who cannot make decisions for themselves, asked her why she kept trying to bring her son home, saying he was too sick and that he needed advanced support.
“It certainly was not my dream when I brought my son home as a newborn baby that he would eventually walk out my door in handcuffs by law enforcement and be put into an ambulance,” said Pasquini.
Since then, Pasquini has been searching for the right level of care for him. While Danny may not be placed at the Brookside MHRC, Pasquini thinks that it will help other families by keeping their loved one close by.
“I would like there to be a more welcoming, compassionate system, and we’re still in the process, hopefully, of creating that.”
