CARE Act Program

Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) Act Program

Overview
Senate Bill (SB) 1338 introduced the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act. This legislation creates a new civil process designed to enable counties to effectively support individuals with untreated schizophrenia and other related psychotic disorders that affect their primary activities of daily living.

Through the CARE Act participants could receive different services such as:

1. Behavioral health services
2. Medically necessary stabilization medications
3. Housing resources & supports
4. Funded social services

Eligibility Criteria to Access CARE Act services:

• Adults, 18 years or older.
• Diagnosed with a schizophrenia spectrum or other related psychotic disorders.
• Experiencing behaviors and symptoms associated with severe mental illness.
• Not clinically stabilized in on-going voluntary treatment.
• At least one of the following:
  • Unlikely to survive safely without supervision and condition is substantially deteriorating.
  • Needs Services & supports to prevent relapse or deterioration, leading to grave disability or harm to others.
• Participation in CARE Plan or Agreement is the least restrictive alternative.
• Likely to benefit from participating in a CARE Plan or Agreement.

Eligible Petitioners

• The Respondent (i.e., self-petition)
• Family/Home- Person with whom respondent resides; Spouse or registered domestic partner; Parent, sibling, child, or grandparents; A person who stands in the place of a parent of the respondent
• Community- First responder; Director of a hospital, or designee, in which respondent is or was recently hospitalized; Director of a public/charitable agency or their designee, who within the last 30 day has provided or is providing behavioral health services to the respondent; A judge of a tribal court located in California or their designee
• County- County behavioral health director, or designee;  Public guardian, or designee; Director of adult protective services or designee; Licensed behavioral health professional or designee treating or supervising the treatment of the respondent for mental illness within the last 30 days.

How to file a petition?

Eligible petitioners must complete and submit the following materials to begin the CARE Court process:

• CARE-100 form
• CARE-101 Mental Health Declaration from a licensed behavioral health provider OR attached evidence to the CARE-100 form that the person in need of services was detained for a minimum of two short periods of intensive treatment (WIC 5250 hold process) and the most recent event occurred within the past 60 days.

Overall Process
1) Referral: A referral can be initiated by family members, behavioral health providers, first responders, or other approved petitioners, by filing a petition with the Superior Court. Petitions must include required State documentation to establish clinical history, Information for Petitioners (Form: CARE-050-INFO)

(2) Initial Determination: The Superior Court makes an initial determination as to whether the petition appears to meet criteria for the CARE Act program. If the petition appears to meet initial criteria, the Superior Court will order Imperial County Behavioral Health Services (ICBHS) to conduct an investigation.

(3) Investigation and Engagement: Imperial County Behavioral Health Services will conduct an investigation and report back within 14 days with a recommendation regarding the establishment of a CARE Act case. During the investigative process, ICBHS will conduct outreach and attempt to engage petitioned individuals with treatment and may avoid the need for a CARE Act case.

(4) Establishing a CARE Plan: If the Superior Court determines that a case should be established, a CARE Plan will be developed with ICBHS, in partnership with the petitioned individual and their counsel. The CARE Plan will be submitted to the Superior Court for review.

(5) Connection to Services: Once a CARE Plan is accepted by the Superior Court, ICBHS and its network of community-based providers will actively engage the individual for whom a CARE Plan is being established to connect to services, including behavioral health treatment, stabilization medication, a housing plan, and other supports as needed. Review hearings will be scheduled periodically to assess progress and ensure services are offered quickly.

(6) Completion: Eligible participants receive services for up to one year, which the court can renew for an additional year, if needed. At 11 months, CARE Court holds a one-year status hearing to determine whether the plan’s services and resources should be extended for up to 12 more months.

Resources
CARE Court website:
https://www.chhs.ca.gov/care-act/

CARE Act Resource Page:
https://care-act.org/

Imperial County Court:
https://www.imperial.courts.ca.gov/general-information/care-court

Care Respondent Rights: https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/care113.pdf

CARE Act Eligibility Criteria:
https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/CARE-Act-Eligibility-Criteria.pdf

For more information visit:
https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/CARE-Act-JC-Fact-Sheet-FINAL-3.20.23.pdf

Contact Us
For inquiries related to Behavioral Health Services, please call:
442-265-1525
Or to Contact Us for inquiries, please call:
442-265-1525 or 1-800-817-5292