Nelba Chavez

Nelba Chavez: And then my cousin, one of my cousins, called me and he said, hey, he said they're hiring over at the juvenile department. Why don't you apply for a job? You're interested. You want to work with kids, then you can be a probation officer. So I applied and here's the part that I'm going to tell you. But I just . . . they didn't want to hide. They hid my application. [Who hid your application?] The deputy director. . . and. . . and I didn't know. So what happened is that. There was this. . . this guy Joel . . . And he was very well known. And I knew him. So I didn't know. . . I mean, he knew who I was, and because somebody told him, hey, there's this. There's this kid that wants to, you know, get into this stuff. And, you know, they're they're not letting her and they're holding her back because she's brown. So, I don't know, something happened. I don't know what it was, but I ended up, um, you know, getting into a not not, not the school thing, but into the whole sociology. So that's when I applied for a job at juvenile and when they hid my application then then Joel was the was the training manager, the training guy over at juvenile. And so that's when they told him, you know, about me applying and that the deputy secretary, the deputy probation officer, had hidden the application. And the reason that he hid the application was because they had had my family in in the juvenile court. We were all adjudicated neglected kids. Okay. But I was living with my grandmother, and so, so they so somebody went to the judge, a Latino that worked there said, hey. He was he was a superior court judge, but he was also they took turns being the head of juvenile. So he was the head of juvenile, and they went to, to the judge as Judge Castro, who later became an ambassador. Anyway, so they told the judge that there was a Mexican American woman. That had a degree from the University of Arizona, and she had applied to be a PO. And she had all the qualifications, but they hid her application. So Castro got really pissed. So he called in the deputy and the assistant deputy, and he had gotten my application and he said, he, he, you know, why did you discriminate? Why didn't you hire her and whatever. And they said, well, judge, because we thought you would be angry, listen to this, we thought you would be angry with us because you've had her family in court. He said, so what? So then, then they called me in . . . juvenile. And it was, I think it was in California, and I was working in a factory in California. So anyway, so they called me in and so I went to see the judge. The judge. Judge Castro wants to see you. So I boy, I had no idea what it was about. And so so I go to the courtroom and he's sitting there, you know, with this whatever. And he says to me, and he was, oh, he was big, huge Mexicano from Nogales. And he says, oh, so you want to be a juvenile probation officer? And I said, yeah. He said, why should I hire you when I have had your family in court? And that really got to me. So I said, you know what, judge, you and your court are nothing but a big farce. [Gasp] I said, you sit there with your little black dress. I was I was so mad. Can you believe it? I thought I didn't care, I didn't care. Okay. I said, you sit there with your little black dress, and these kids come up to you, and you tell them, you know, you know, you got to stay out of the court. You know you're going to be on probation, but you don't want to end up in an institution. You have to be good. You have to go to school, etcetera. I said you're lying because I have never been before you, ever. But you're punishing me, because of what? My family. You've been punishing me. And yet all these kids that you preach to, you should be ashamed of yourself. You have no morals, no values. So then. So then he said all. I had to test you because you're going to be tested in the community. You know, they're going to test you about, you know, why should I listen to you when your parents are this and that? He said, you're hired. I said, I don't want this job. [Laugher]. I said, you can take it and do whatever you want to with it. I am not taking this job. I don't want it. So he took me. He said, I'm going to talk to you in my chambers. So I went to the chambers. He said, look, he said, I have to do that because you're going to be hit with that. And he went on and on and on. And I'm sitting there like this, okay? And he said. Please take this job. I don't want it. What are you going to do? I'm sure I can do something, I said, I know how to mop. So he said, you worked all your life for this. And now what? Now I had to test you. You're going to be tested. He said you're just mean. So then he said, would you take the job? I said, no. Please take this job [Oh my gosh] It's a Superior Court judge. So I said, okay. Oh, I'm so glad. He was so happy. So I took the job.

J. Najera: I think that's great. I think that's great, great advice. And I'm going to I'm going to tell you something right now. Um, but thank you very much for your time. I'm going to end the recording. You know what you mentioned. So you mentioned La Frontera and I, I didn't I didn't quite catch like a definition or what? What is La frontera?

Nelba Chavez: La Frontera is a community mental health center. [It's essential].

J. Najera: Oh, that's the name of the mental health center?

Nelba Chavez: Yeah .[Okay]. I helped start that. [And you helped to start it?] Yeah. And but it was. And. But I thought you had seen it. [Yes, we did see it on 29th. We didn't see it personally. We saw it online.] Oh, did you really? Yeah. Because it's right over here on 29th Street. Right off the freeway. [Yeah, we saw it.] Yeah. What about it? I mean, when I started there, I. There was only two of us and and it was in a three bedroom house. Okay. There were two of us there. Just graduated from UCLA. We had our masters in social work, so we started there and then moved into the Ying Yang Building on South Sixth Avenue. It was horrible. So that's where we, you know, just just and it was under the southern counties. It was during the 60s when the Community Mental Health Act, Kennedy is the one that started the Community Mental Health Act. And then it was continued by Johnson, where they gave federal money to communities where, you know, based on population and formula for starting mental health services. And that's how I got started. And so, uh, that's where I started working. And I kept saying, why is it that we don't know? I mean, here we are, this little shack. Why is it that, you know, they always had this building and I just thought everything here is green. Why is it that all these horrible buildings where we go for services are green? So I said, we're going to we're going to build a building. I'm going to have a fundraiser. I don't know anything about fundraising. We raised close to a million bucks and we built the building. It's on South Sixth Avenue. And one of the things I said when we were working on it and I was the architect, I said, I want no green in this building.

Nelba Chavez: Then one day, I was working in California. I was working as a probation officer in juvenile in in San Francisco. So I got a call from Washington from from the white House, and they said, you're being considered to be the Head of SAMHSA. And I didn't know what SAMHSA was, and I didn't dare ask. So then I called this friend of mine that was very much she was in L.A., Doctor Brown. And I said, hey, Vivian, what's SAMHSA? She said, well, that's the that used to be old ADAMHA. I said, are you serious? She said, yeah. She said, it's now it's a subcabinet position and it's the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration. And, you know, they have all these big programs under them that fund the country. And she was asking? I said, well, they call me and they told me that I'm being considered. She said, holy what? Don't you know what that is? She says you have to go through Senate confirmation for that. I said, really? She said, yeah. I said, oh. I said, I knew I had no clue. So then I found out what it was and I could not believe it. And there was a lot of national opposition by, by the interest groups because it was like, you know, the Association of Alcoholics. You know, she's not an alcoholic. Okay. And it's a biggie. It's the one that funds the United States and drugs, mental health prevention. And, you know, substance abuse and whatever. So I didn’t know what it was. So they called me to go visit with the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Donna Shalaila. I met with her and. And then I had to meet with, uh, the, you know, the senator for some of these senators and, uh, and House members, but mostly it was Senate because it was Senate confirmation. So I did that, and then I went back to my job. So then one day I got a call from, uh, uh, Doctor Phil Lee, and he said, where are you? I said, well, I'm still here in San Francisco. He said, well, you're supposed to be here. I said, well, nobody told me. He said, yeah, he said, we need to schedule you for Senate confirmation. And no, wait a minute. I had already been confirmed, but I hadn't heard anything. Oh, yeah. No, that's not true. So he said, no, we want you to come and start. Even before you get confirmed. We can hire you for 30 days during, you know. So I said, I don't know if I want to go for 30 days and then have to. No, he says, you know, we're going to set you up and all this and that. So I went and then, you know, so then I was acting. And then, uh, then they then I had to go through Senate confirmation. So then they confirm me. And so I went back and they, said, well, how did it go? I said, well, I have been confirmed. I said, great, start working. That was confirmed by the Senate.

J. Najera: That's amazing. Can you tell us a little bit about the confirmation hearings? What was that experience like?

Nelba Chavez: Well, they have two kinds, okay. They have the kind where you have to go and appear before them. And, you know, you've seen those on TV. Mhm. And then they have the others where you meet with them individually. [Oh I see.] And then they confirm. So that's what they did with me. I met with them individually and then see at that point they decide whether they want you to go before them. And so they said no. So so I got confirmed by the Senate. And then it goes to the Senate and and then they vote on it whether you confirmed or not. So they voted on it and I was confirmed, but I had met with.