SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Sacramento County is up against a deadline to launch CARE Courts by December 1 as part of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Proposition 1 to help the homeless and those with mental illness.
“CARE Courts, that’s a new paradigm, not substituted care, but supported care it’s a new paradigm as it relates to court plans and oversight and due process its anew pathway that’s provided help to hundred and hundred already with a goal of 2 thousand by the end of year in this new pilot phase,” said Newsom.
Newsom is now pushing counties to get started with CARE Courts, a program that allows family members or others close to someone with psychotic disorders to petition for treatment. A judge would require counties to provide care should the person wish to enter voluntarily.
Ryan Quist with Sacramento County Behavioral Health shared how they are preparing for implementation.
“We did receive our startup funds and have been staffing up, we met internally with our partners in the courts, we are looking forward to implementing in December,” said Quist.
One of the partners they are meeting with is the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office.
District Attorney Thien Ho is for the program but agrees with Behavioral Health that more people will be needed to implement the program. Right now, only two attorneys are dedicated to CARE Courts and he has concerns.
“It’s voluntary so how does this interplay with the DA’s office on criminal cases this is supposed to before criminal charges but there is gray area about what happens when you do have criminal charges,” said Ho.
Ho says he’s concerned if people refuse CARE Courts, they'll fall through the cracks.
This could create pressure on the criminal justice system to pursue conservatorship for those who refuse.
“It’s very difficult to go the conservatorship route because the standard of proof is so high, then you have the gap so we try to balance with the criminal justice system when someone does faces charges but you realize mental health and substance abuse is an underlying condition so how do you address that in a way that deals with underlying conditions but respects victim’s voices,” said Ho.
The DA says he just obtained approval from the county to start a pilot program: Haven for Hope. It will offer arrested nonviolent offenders services and if they don’t accept them, the DA will prosecute. He hopes this will incentivize people to accept services.
The DA’s office says they’ve heard from San Joaquin County to expect a surge in cases when they first launched these CARE Courts. They also shared the petition to court have been very helpful in finding people the county didn’t know about previously who need services.
ABC10 reached out to the Governor’s Office Thursday and they responded with this statement:
"Enough with the hypothetical reasoning and unfounded concerns about implementing CARE Court. People are literally dying on the streets while some bureaucrats continue to make excuses. Never before has the state provided so many resources for local governments to take action and assist those in need. The window to participate has been open for over a year, and by law, every county in California must join by December."
WATCH MORE: California voters pass Proposition 1 requiring counties to spend on programs to tackle homelessness
