Everything you need to know about how to use CARE Court

from Marissa KendallCalMatters

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Information is accurate as of December 2025. Please note that CalMatters does not continuously update this story.

What is CARE Court?

CARE meaning Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowermentis a court-based way to provide mental health and substance use treatment to Californians struggling with severe mental illness. The program launched in several California counties in October 2023 and expanded statewide in December 2024.

Who is CARE Court for?

To be entitled to CARE courtsomeone must be diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorder or another similar psychotic disorder. They must be 18 years of age or older and not receiving adequate mental health care.

The program starts on January 1 will expand to include people experiencing psychotic symptoms as a result of bipolar disorder.

Who can refer someone to CARE Court?

One thing that makes CARE Court unique is that it’s not just doctors who can refer someone to the program—family members, emergency physicians, and others have that option, too.

A CARE Court application can be made by a person’s immediate family (parents, siblings, grandparents or children) or their roommate. First responders (law enforcement, firefighters, paramedics, crisis response teams, and homeless outreach workers) can also submit petitions, as can hospitals and other behavioral health providers. If someone is in custody, the public guardian can file a petition to remove the person from custody in CARE Court. And the court can refer someone to CARE Court if they are charged with a misdemeanor.

Someone can also file a petition for themselves, known as a self-petition.

How do you petition?

First, fill out a CARE Court petition available here. You must also complete a mental health declaration (available here), or provide proof that the person has been detained for intensive care at least twice, including once in the past 60 days.

Then submit the documents with the correct separation your county court. In some places, you can do this electronically. Otherwise, make three copies of each form and bring them to the court in person or mail them.

The court will then determine whether the application meets the requirements. If the application is accepted, whoever made the application must appear at the first court hearing, at which point the court will decide whether the person can participate in CARE Court.

So what’s going on?

If someone is accepted into CARE Court, the court orders the county to work with them on a voluntary “CARE Agreement,” which can include mental health and substance abuse treatment, housing and other services if needed. The CARE Court participant is represented by an attorney during this process – often a public defender. The participant then attends regular court hearings for the following year to review their progress, raise questions or complaints, or request different or additional services.

If they cannot reach an agreement on CARE, the court can order a CARE plan (see below).

After one year, the participant can either complete the program or continue for another year.

Can CARE Court force someone into treatment?

No, not really. When Governor Newsom first proposed the program in 2022, he said it would include ways to hold participants accountable if they don’t continue their treatment. But forced treatment is controversial after the country’s troubled history of locking up patients in mental hospitals led to the mass closing these facilities in the 1950s and 1960s.

Program participants can sign a voluntary “Care Agreement” through which they can access housing, mental health care and other services. If they refuse, the judge can impose a court-ordered “CARE plan.” But this is very rare. So far, judges have ordered CARE plans only 22 times statewide. Some counties are avoiding CARE plans altogether, preferring instead to make the program entirely voluntary.

Even if a judge orders a CARE plan, the program has no teeth to enforce the order. Clinicians cannot force CARE Court participants to take medication, nor can a participant be punished for refusing medication. If someone fails to follow an ordered care plan, the court can put them on a path to conservatorship, according to the state.

This story was reported with support from the Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.