Riverside will be one of the first seven counties in California to use Gov. Gavin Newsom’s new CARE Court program for defendants with untreated psychotic disorders.
The Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment Act, signed by Newsom Sept. 14, allows judges to force adults with untreated psychotic disorders into a treatment and housing plan run by the county’s behavioral health agency.
The adult can be put into the program while facing misdemeanor proceedings, conservatorship proceedings or assisted outpatient treatment. The person can also be referred into the program by their family members, a behavioral health provider or a first responder.
The treatment plan will be one year long, but can be extended for a second year. CARE Court petition hearings will be closed to the public. If a county does not comply with a court’s orders related to the CARE Court process, the program allows the county’s presiding judge to fine the county $1,000 per day.
Riverside County has not yet replied to a request for comment.
The program received disapproval from the American Civil Liberties Union, National Homelessness Law Center, San Bernardino Free Them All and the Western Center on Law and Poverty.
“CARE Court is a coerced, court-ordered treatment system that strips people with mental health disabilities of their right to make their own decisions about their lives. That causes more harm as studies show that forced treatment lessens the likelihood that people will seek voluntary treatment in the future,” opponents wrote in a signed letter.
“I have seen first-hand the good that can come when our judicial, executive, and legislative branches work together to address delicate populations and nuanced issues like mental health, veterans, at-risk youth, and substance use,” said attorney and bill co-author Sen. Thomas Umberg (D-Santa Ana), according to the governor’s press release.
“The individual frameworks and best practices for collaboration exist here – and we pulled them together in SB 1338 for something new and revolutionary in California. I’m proud to have been able to spearhead this effort with Sen. (Susan Talamantes) Eggman and look forward to more advances in the years ahead,” he continued.
Riverside County will implement CARE Courts by Oct. 1, 2023, along with Glenn, Orange, San Diego, Stanislaus, Tuolumne and San Francisco counties.
San Bernardino County, and the rest of California, will be required to implement the court by Dec. 1, 2024.
Riverside Superior Court and Riverside County will start a task force to decide how the program will work in the county, said Riverside Superior Court Presiding Judge John Monterosso.
“This is brand new, no one has worked it out yet to see how it plays through,” said Monterosso.
The court was not involved in the legislative discussions around CARE Court, but is committed to working with the county to make the new program work, Monterosso said.
He does have a concern that Riverside County is the only county of the initial seven counties that already does not have enough judges to fully match its caseload. The program’s additional workload is unknown, so Monterosso is not sure how much of an impact it will have on judicial resources.
The program will be funded by the Mental Health Services Fund. The law requires funding to be provided “at sufficient levels” to ensure that counties can provide mental health services, medications and services through CARE Court. That funding, however, will kick in only after all other municipal, county, state and insurance funds are exhausted.
The bill unanimously passed the California Senate, and passed the Assembly 73-2. Five representatives, including Assemblymember Chad Mayes (I-Rancho Mirage), did not vote. Eggman co-wrote the bill with Umberg.
