By Magaly Muñoz

Alameda County Superior Court and Alameda County Behavioral Health Department (ACBHD) launched CARE Court last week in an effort to help individuals with particular mental health diagnoses or substance abuse disorders receive a range of support services.

CARE Court, or the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Court, is a civil court process that provides a 12-month treatment plan involving clinically prescribed, individualized interventions as well as supportive services, medication, and housing options.

Juan Taizan, director of Forensic Diversion and Reentry Services at ACBHD, said the program is intended to target the county’s most vulnerable communities.

He added that it is also designed to divert individuals away from conservatorship or incarceration.

To be eligible, individuals must meet the following criteria:

• 18 years of age or older
• Diagnosed with schizophrenia or other associated psychotic disorders and currently experiencing symptoms
• Not clinically stabilized in ongoing treatment
• The individual’s mental health is substantially deteriorating, and they are unlikely to survive safely in the community without supervision and/or need services and support to prevent relapse and deterioration.
• CARE Plan is the least restrictive alternative, and individuals who enroll are likely to benefit from participation
• A pending criminal action does not disqualify the person from CARE Court

California has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in addressing mental illness, substance abuse, and its relation to homelessness over the years. Earlier this year, the governor backed a multi-billion-dollar bond that will help build on the work of behavioral health services at the local level.

Yet, advocates insist progress is too slow and more needs to be done.

Samuel Jain, senior attorney at Disability Rights California, told the Post that the CARE program is subjecting people with disabilities to a “coercive process” and threatens conservatorship if someone does not complete their plan in the intended 12 to 24 months.

According to Taizan, the program is completely voluntary. Even if loved ones or outside emergency services and legal professionals recommend someone to CARE Court, that person can refuse participation.

Jain said that the state has scapegoated people with mental health problems for the problems surrounding housing, or lack thereof.

“I think people in the disability community have just felt really attacked and don’t feel like these reforms are actually meeting their needs,” Jain said.

He added that people who fall directly under the umbrella of the CARE Court criteria should have a voice in decisions that are being made about them.

Jain suggested that instead of funneling money into a lengthy and unnecessary legal process, the state should focus on prioritizing the building of more affordable housing, providing more resources for voluntary mental health services, and a quicker system for people to receive much-needed support.

Taizan told the Post that Alameda County has learned from other counties that have already implemented the CARE court program: San Francisco, Orange, San Diego and Riverside Counties.

The process has been extremely difficult, as it’s intended to serve the population with the highest needs, he said.

Taizan said that not many people have graduated from the CARE program in the last year, but a learning curve is expected, and “our major takeaway is that this will take time” and “a lot of collaboration.”

Magaly Muñoz

A graduate of Sacramento State University, Magaly Muñoz’s journalism experience includes working for the State Hornet, the university’s student-run newspaper and conducting research and producing projects for “All Things Considered” at National Public Radio. She also was a community reporter for El Timpano, serving Latino and Mayan communities, and contributed to the Sacramento Observer, the area’s African American newspaper.

Muñoz is one of 40 early career journalists who are part of the California Local News Fellowship program, a state-funded initiative designed to strengthen local news reporting in California, with a focus on underserved communities.

The fellowship program places journalism fellows throughout the state in two-year, full-time reporting positions.

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