California lawmakers approved CARE Court. What comes next?
In the next two years, California’s 58 counties will be tasked with setting up new court systems to address the needs of people with severe mental illness who often languish on the streets.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Court proposal swept through the state Legislature with resounding approval from Democrats and Republicans in both houses on Aug. 30 — only two of the state’s 120 legislators voted against it — and is expected to be signed into law by the governor any day. The proposal was authored by Democratic Sens. Tom Umberg of Garden Grove and Susan Talamantes Eggman of Stockton through Senate Bill 1338.
Originally, Newsom’s proposal — which would compel people with untreated schizophrenia and other severe mental illness into housing and treatment — had a start date of July 1, 2022. But it faced resistance from county officials who said they were unprepared to create and maintain an entire legal apparatus, much less provide the necessary services. After months of successful lobbying to slow down the timeline devised by the governor and secure more money for planning, the California State Association of Counties now says it stands ready to help implement the far-reaching proposal.
Under the new timeline, seven counties will have to establish new courts by Oct. 1, 2023, followed by the remaining 51 counties in December 2024. The pilot counties are San Francisco, San Diego, Orange, Riverside, Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Glenn.
The system will theoretically work like this: Family, close friends, first responders and behavioral health workers will be able to submit a petition to the court, signed under penalty of perjury, on behalf of a person with untreated schizophrenia spectrum or other psychotic disorders that shows why they qualify for CARE Court. In order to qualify, the person must be either unlikely to survive safely without supervision or be a threat to themselves or others without support. The petition must include either an affidavit from a licensed health care professional who examined them or tried to — or proof the person was recently detained under intensive treatment.
The court would then order a clinical evaluation of the person — and review the evaluation to see if the person qualifies for CARE Court services. If they do, they’ll get legal counsel and a “supporter” — an advocate to walk them through the process, as well as a “Care Plan” that can include recommended treatment, medication and housing. Medication can be court-ordered, but not forcibly administered. During 12 months, a participant will have to attend hearings to make sure they’re adhering to the plan — and counties are providing the court-ordered services.
Following that year, a person could receive another year of treatment or a graduation plan, which would not be enforceable by the court. If a person received the court-mandated services but failed to complete their treatment, they could be considered by the court for conservatorship, though refusing medication alone wouldn’t be grounds for failure. The idea is to make it easier for people who need help, but may not be seeking it, to get it before they lose legal autonomy or end up in jail.
“CARE Court is a paradigm shift: providing housing and services in the community, where people can heal – and not behind locked walls of institutions and prisons,” Newsom said in a statement on Aug. 30.
This is the governor’s latest and boldest strategy to address homelessness, which consistently ranks at the top of the list of voter concerns in California — albeit participants don’t have to be unhoused to qualify. The governor has previously pledged to deal with encampments and dedicated unprecedented budget funding to the issue. But his administration concedes this will only serve a small sliver of the 161,000 Californians who were unhoused in 2020 — an estimated 7,000 to 12,000 people a year.
Implementing CARE Courts
Counties now face a series of practical questions critical to turning the fuzzy concept into a reality: How will unhoused people get to court? What happens if someone doesn’t show up? Which courts will house CARE Court? Which judges will preside? Who will conduct the medical evaluations?
There’s about $88 million in this year’s budget to help figure it out. The counties will get $57 million for startup costs, with $26 million earmarked for the first seven counties. Farrah McDaid Ting, public affairs director for the California State Association of Counties, said that money would go toward everything from cell phones and transportation to setting up an information sharing system that tracks data on counties’ progress. A working group for those first seven courts hasn’t yet been pulled together, she said.
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: