Sacramento, CA – Governor Newsom is claiming victory as the CARE Court (Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment) has now opened in all 58 counties across the state in hopes of helping “the most seriously ill people with untreated or undertreated schizophrenia get life-saving treatment and housing they need to stabilize, recover, and thrive.”
The state has been rolling out the CARE Court through a phased-in approach that began in October 2023.
The first locations to open CARE Court launched October 2023 and included the counties of Orange, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Stanislaus, Glenn, and Tuolumne, with Los Angeles opening in December 2023, San Mateo in July 2024, and Kern in October 2024.
“Finding treatment, housing, and support for Californians with the most serious mental illness has been a top priority of my administration and I’m proud to see early achievements from this innovative new model. With every county’s CARE Court program now up and running, I am eager to see even more successes for our most seriously ill Californians, and continued progress in our state’s behavioral health transformation for all Californians,” said Governor Gavin Newsom in a statement released by the Governor’s office this week.
“As of today, all 58 counties are offering this new pathway to safety and wellbeing for Californians with some of the most complex behavioral health needs,” said CalHHS Secretary Kim Johnson. “The CARE Act builds relationships and trust between individuals who need more care and the people who seek to get them that care including families, outreach and behavioral health professionals, hospitals, first responders, public defenders and legal services attorneys. CARE also includes a special civil court that protects their rights and focuses on progress toward recovery.”
“With the implementation of CARE Court expanding statewide, all cities have a new tool to provide support for our most vulnerable residents experiencing severe mental health illnesses, many of whom often suffer on our streets,” Patricia Lock Dawson, City of Riverside Mayor and Chair of Big City Mayors. “As leaders at the local level, the Big City Mayors of California are at the frontlines of this crisis and we are acting with urgency utilizing solutions such as CARE Court to provide a critical pathway towards treatment, housing and long-term recovery.”
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg added, “The State CARE court system provides counties and cities with a crucial legal tool. We must use this tool to intensify our efforts, ensuring that more vulnerable individuals receive the mental and behavioral health care, housing, and supportive services they desperately need.”
The Governor’s office claims, “Initial results from CARE Court’s early implementation demonstrate the program is making a significant impact by addressing some of the most serious cases of mental health crises on California’s streets.”
They added, “In the nine counties where CARE Court has already opened, the program is providing hundreds of people with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders with crucial treatment and housing plans. This progress reflects a meaningful shift in helping the state’s most vulnerable populations towards long-term recovery and housing stability, showing CARE Court’s ability to reduce the need for crisis services and create a path to lasting wellness.”
Over 1,400 people have been connected to CARE Courts or to county services directly, based on preliminary data.
CARE Court is funded by the state’s $15.3 billion in funding to tackle homelessness and $11.6 billion annually in behavioral health services.
In September, Governor Newsom signed SB 42 by Senator Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana) to streamline county and court implementation of the CARE Act through improvement of the petition process, facilitate communication between petitioners, respondents, judges, and county behavioral health departments, and strengthening of CARE as a means to ensure participants’ long-term stabilization.
