Governor Newsom and Counties Begin CARE Court Implementation

Governor Gavin Newsom joined local and state leaders for a convening of the first cohort of counties who will implement the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) Act, a bill authored by Senator Thomas Umberg (D-Santa Ana) and Senator Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton) and sponsored by Governor Newsom. The CARE Act delivers mental health and substance use disorder services to the most severely impaired Californians who too often suffer in homelessness or incarceration without treatment.

The first cohort of counties include Glenn, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, and the City and County of San Francisco which are working to launch the CARE Act by October 2023.

CalHHS will establish a CARE Act Working Group in early 2023 and will continue its ongoing engagement with representatives from a wide variety of networks, including peers, disability rights organizations, families, racial equity advocates, housing and homelessness stakeholders, behavioral health providers, associations, and more.

Click here to read the entire announcement.