CARE Court, statewide psychological well being care plan, precedence for LA County

Los Angeles County will speed up the implementation of a statewide program intending to help folks affected by extreme psychological sickness, officers introduced right now.

The CARE Court (for Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment) program is backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and is supposed to assist these residing on the streets scuffling with psychological sickness and drug habit.

“CARE Court brings real progress and accountability at all levels to fix the broken system that is failing too many Californians in crisis,” Newsom stated in a press release. “I commend Los Angeles County leaders, the courts and all the local government partners and stakeholders across the state who are taking urgent action to make this lifesaving initiative a reality for thousands of struggling Californians.”

Seven counties pledged to roll out this system this 12 months: Glenn, San Diego, San Francisco, Tuolumne, Stanislaus, Orange and Riverside. Los Angeles, the state’s most populous county, sped up its implementation date one 12 months forward of schedule, to Dec. 1, 2023.

CARE Court, which obtained bipartisan help within the state legislature, can compel somebody affected by psychological sickness to participate in a court-ordered care plan for as much as two years. The plan may embody individualized interventions with supportive providers, remedy and housing. Those who don’t full their care plan may very well be hospitalized or be positioned beneath a conservatorship.

The county’s Department of Mental Health will oversee this system’s implementation. 

“We are in a homelessness emergency and we know that many who are living on our streets are struggling with severe mental illness,” Board Chair Janice Hahn stated. “Governor Newsom’s Care Court model has been a missing piece in our effort to bring people inside.”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass supported the acceleration and thanked Newsom for his management.

“It is profoundly inhumane to allow people to suffer mental illness and die on our streets,” Bass stated. “We will lock arms with Los Angeles County, building CARE Courts and expanding mental health and substance abuse programs to help Angelenos get well while respecting all civil liberties.”