Topline:
A highly anticipated — and controversial — new program, championed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, will begin in Los Angeles County on Friday. It’s called CARE Court and will allow family members to ask a judge to step in with a treatment plan for loved ones living with severe and untreated mental illness.
Capacity concerns: There are some concerns about whether the county’s behavioral health care system will have enough staff and facilities to meet the need.
Voluntary or coercion? CARE Court may be voluntary as written in statute, but civil liberties groups warn about stripping of individual rights. If the care plan fails, the person could be hospitalized or referred to a conservatorship. That could mean forced treatment down the line.
The quote: “I talk to too many families who have struggled to get help for their loved ones with severe mental illness and we see too many people with schizophrenia on the streets. CARE Court is a tool we have been missing in LA County,” county Supervisor Janice Hahn said in an emailed statement. “Through CARE Court, we will now be better able to support people suffering from untreated schizophrenia and their families who have historically had nowhere else to go.”
What’s next: Officials are expecting some 1,900 respondents in the first six months.