Baca spoke at great length with Village ‘members’ (persons who are receiving treatment at the Village). Members told about their lives before coming to the Village. Some had been substance abusers, homeless or totally unaware that they had any mental illness. Some were repeat offenders going in and out of jails regularly. After receiving treatment at The Village, they stopped the revolving door of incarceration. Others spoke about their jobs and apartments they now have since getting a better handle on their mental illness.

Many are successfully working and supporting themselves in the community. "Work is the best therapy," said Martha Long, who has been the director since 1990. Long recently received the John Beard Award in Washington D.C. presented by the International Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services (IAPSRS). The John Beard Award is for "Life Time Achievement in Psychosocial Rehabilitation."

Sheriff Baca is very interested in giving people with mental illness in Los Angeles County Sheriff’s jails access to improved mental health care. Baca has spoken about his years of exposure to mental health patients during his approximately 25 years in law enforcement. He said that an estimated 40% of all persons in custody have some form of psychiatric disability. Baca has been instrumental in training officers to work better with the mentally ill in the community and in custody. His goal is to improve the awareness of mental illness issues for all law enforcement officers in this county. He also spoke about the continuing efforts of practitioners working with funding from Assembly Bill 34 (AB 34). The bill targets mentally ill prisoners and homeless people with mental illness. It was written to keep these people out of jail or from returning to jail.

Sheriff Baca stayed for lunch at the 456 Café staffed by Village members. He was very interested in the stories told by members about their lives in recovery. "You are doing very well in this program…Keep-up the good work and progress" were words that Baca kept saying to the members he got to know. Martha Long added "We are greatly impressed that the senior law enforcement officer of Los Angeles County has taken an interest in our facility. We invite any police, sheriff, probation, parole or related agency to visit The Village in the near future."