The CARE Act creates a new pathway to deliver mental health and substance use disorder services to the most severely impaired Californians, along with supportive services, including housing support to prevent or avoid homelessness.

• The CARE Act Fact Sheet can be accessed here.

CARE Court, as part of the CARE Act, is a new civil court process that will be implemented in all California counties, including Calaveras County, on December 1, 2024. This court process seeks to engage individuals who are in dire need of behavioral health support but are not engaging in available services and social supports. 

Individuals who qualify for this new court process are limited to those with severe and non-stabilized mental illness who are diagnosed with Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder or other  psychotic disorders and who meet additional criteria affecting their ability to live safely or pose serious harm to others.  The goal is to link the person to individualized services that will benefit them.
 
Participation would be the least restrictive alternative necessary to ensure the person’s recovery and stability. Engagement can lead to voluntary CARE Agreements or court-ordered CARE Plans.  These Agreements and Plans set forth county obligations to provide needed behavioral health and substance use disorder services as well as supportive services, such as housing assistance and other social supports.

The new CARE Court process can be initiated by the following persons or entities: Individuals themselves, or an adult with whom the individual resides

• A spouse, parent, sibling, child, grandparent, or a person acting as a parent (loco parentis)
• Director of a hospital, or designee in which the individual is hospitalized due to 5150 or 5250
• Director of a public or charitable agency, or home, who currently or in the past 30 days provided behavioral health services
• Director of Behavioral Health
• Director of Adult Protective Services
• Public Guardian
• Judge of a tribal court located in California
• Licensed behavioral health professional who within the last 30 days provided or supervised treatment
• First responder who had repeated interactions with the individual
  • Peace officer
  • Firefighter
  • Paramedic
  • EMT
  • Mobile crisis response
  • Homeless outreach

More information can be found on the Calaveras County Superior Court Website, the Superior Court Self Help website, or by accessing the self help kiosks located in the Superior Court lobby at 400 Government Center Dr, San Andreas, CA 95249.