Governor Newsom Convenes Growing Coalition in Support of CARE
Court Coalition includes state and local officials, first responders,
health care professionals, behavioral health providers, business
organizations, civil rights groups and faith leaders, among others

CARE Court empowers Californians suffering from untreated
schizophrenia spectrum and psychotic disorders to access treatment,
services, and housing

SACRAMENTO – Today, Governor Gavin Newsom convened the coalition
in support of CARE Court, which will provide individuals with severe
mental health and substance use disorders the care and services they
need to get healthy. SB 1338, CARE Court legislation authored by
Senator Thomas Umberg (D-Santa Ana) and Senator Susan Talamantes
Eggman (D-Stockton), will be heard tomorrow in its first committee,
Senate Judiciary.

“Support for CARE Court is broad and diverse because Californians
are tired of the status quo,” said Governor Newsom. “We must act with
urgency and accountability to address this crisis which currently
leaves thousands of individuals living on our streets without the
help they need.”

The coalition includes members of California’s Big City Mayors,
the National Alliance on Mental Illness, California Professional
Firefighters, the California Medical Association, and the California
Hospital Association, among others.

“As leaders at the local level, we are on the frontlines of this
crisis, and we see CARE Court as a critical priority for the Big City
Mayors of California. It’s time that our golden state stops walking
by our greatest moral shame and faces it head on with clarity and
compassion,” said Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.

“Our members see people at their point of greatest need,
responding to 911 calls for those in serious mental health crisis.
This leads to using scarce fire and EMS resources to pick up the same
folks over and over again. Governor Newsom knows we need a different
approach, and CARE Court will help us break this cycle and truly get
people the help they need,” said California Professional Firefighters
President Brian K. Rice.

CARE Court would allow courts to order CARE plans, which would
require counties to provide comprehensive treatment to the most
severely impaired and untreated Californians and hold patients
accountable to following their treatment plans. It will provide an
opportunity for a range of people, including family members, first
responders, intervention teams, and mental health service providers,
among others, to refer individuals suffering from schizophrenia
spectrum or psychotic disorders, many of them unhoused, and get them
into community-based services. These include short-term stabilization
medications, wellness and recovery supports, and connection to social
services, including a housing plan.

The Governor has called upon the Legislature to move quickly to
enact CARE Court to allow local partners to begin implementation of
this critical program. CARE Court builds on Governor Newsom’s $14
billion multi-year investment to provide new housing units and
treatment slots and nearly $10 billion annually in community
behavioral health services. The Governor’s approach focuses on
quickly rehousing unsheltered individuals with behavioral health
issues, all while new units come online, while also transforming
Medi-Cal to provide more behavioral health services to people
struggling the most. For more information, visit
https://www.chhs.ca.gov/care-court/