Alameda County to open CARE Court just in time

Alameda County Superior Court will launch its Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Court department on Dec. 2, just in time to meet a state deadline. It comes as state data shows 787 petitions have been filed in CARE Courts since they started operating in 2023, though filings vary significantly by county.

CARE Court is a civil court program that allows family members, doctors or other first responders to ask a participating jurisdiction to implement a court ordered treatment and support plan for people suffering from severe mental health and substance abuse problems. The program was signed into law under the CARE Act by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2022. The act requires the majority of counties in California to implement a CARE Court no later than Dec. 1., which is a Sunday.

The law has been criticized by medical professionals, lawmakers and civil rights attorneys who argued the program was merely a court ordered conservatorship.

In a news release Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Sandra Bean, who will preside over Alameda County's CARE Court, commented on the impact she hopes the program will have on families.

"We encourage families in Alameda County to petition the CARE Act Court if a loved one is struggling with severe mental health challenges," she said. "This court is designed to provide compassionate, individualized care plans that prioritize treatment, support, and housing, offering a path to recover and stability for those in need."

The court's press office responded to the characterizations of CARE Court as a "conservatorship" and touted the program as an "alternative to incarceration" in Tuesday's news release.

"It's important to note that CARE Act Court is not a conservatorship. CARE Act Court's goal is for every participating person to graduate and live a full and autonomous life," the court's press office wrote.

The announcement comes a year and a month after a cohort of seven counties became the first to implement CARE Courts in October 2023.

Since then, critics have claimed that the program has failed to make an impact; pointing to the low numbers of CARE Court petitions filed in participating counties.

Last week, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approved a budget allocation of $282,613 for CARE Court staffing with the intention of launching Dec. 1, according to meeting notes from Nov. 5.

Newsom's office could not be reached for comment Tuesday. During his State of the State address in June, Newsom defended CARE Court's progress thus far and called the program "critical" to his recent legislative blitz centered on improving access to mental health care.

Blane Corren, public relations officer for the Judicial Council of California, provided cumulative statistics for CARE Court petitions and confirmed that all seven of the original CARE Court counties will continue operations.

He said the 787 petitions filed from Oct. 2, 2023 to Sept. 30, 2024 includes the first seven counties plus Los Angeles Superior Court, which implemented on Dec. 1, 2023, and San Mateo County Superior Court, which started on July 1, 2024.

The initial seven counties were: Glenn, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, and San Francisco.

Discrepancies between the number of petitions filed and the number of CARE support plans being ordered have been stark in some counties. In emails to the Daily Journal on Tuesday, Riverside County revealed that it has received 102 CARE court petitions since the court was established, but no plans have been ordered by the presiding judge. Glenn County has only received two petitions since launching the program and is yet to implement a CARE plan, according to an email from Chris Ruhl, court executive officer for the Superior Court.

One of the state government's public information web pages, known as "Mental Health for All," currently anticipates every county across the state to have CARE Court implemented by Dec. 1.