Thursday, September 1, 2022
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Legislation to Create ‘CARE Courts’ Is Enacted
By a MetNews Staff Writer
The state Senate yesterday concurred in Assembly amendments to a bill calling for diversions of mentally ill and drug-addicted persons from criminal courts to specialized civil courts, enacting the measure on a 40-0 vote.
Approval in the Assembly was overwhelming, with a 62-2 vote.
The bill, SB 1338, contains this legislative declaration:
“A new approach is needed to act earlier and to provide support and accountability, both to individuals with these untreated severe mental illnesses and to local governments with the responsibility to provide behavioral health services. California’s civil courts will provide a new process for earlier action, support, and accountability, through a new Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) process.”
Newsom’s Statement
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who championed the legislation, issued a statement saying:
“CARE Court is a paradigm shift: providing housing and services in the community, where people can heal – and not behind locked walls of institutions and prisons. This was the vision set out over 50 years ago, but only now—with unprecedented investment in new housing, mental health services, and CARE Court—can we see this promise becoming reality.
“CARE Court received overwhelming, bipartisan support from the Legislature and comes at a time when California is investing a record $14.7 billion in funding for housing and homelessness support and more than $11.6 billion annually in mental health throughout the state. This bill also comes with real accountability for local governments that don’t comply with court-ordered treatment plans. The CARE Act also holds individuals needing care accountable to engage in treatment, with self-direction supported and civil rights protected.”
Opponent’s Criticism
Human Rights Watch, an overwhelming international research and advocacy group, opposed the bill, arguing:
“Proponents of the plan describe CARE Court in misleading ways as ‘preserving self-determination’ and ‘self-sufficiency,’ and ‘empower[ing].’ But CARE Court creates a state-imposed system of coerced, involuntary treatment. The proposed legislation authorizes judges to order a person to submit to treatment under a CARE plan. That treatment may include an order to take a given medication, including long-acting injections, and a housing plan. That housing plan could include a variety of interim housing or shelter options that may be unacceptable to an individual and unsuited to their unique needs.”
It added:
“The CARE Court plan threatens to create a separate legal track for people perceived to have mental health conditions, without adequate process, negatively implicating basic rights. Even with stronger judicial procedures and required clinical diagnoses by mental health professionals, this program would remain objectionable because it expands the ability of the state to coerce people into involuntary treatment beyond the limited and temporary circumstances provided for under human rights law.”
ACLU’s Opposition
ACLU California Action also opposed the bill, joined by 43 organizations, maintaining:
“The California Legislature has declared that, ‘[i]n the absence of a controversy, a court is normally not the proper forum in which to make health care decisions.’ Yet, SB 1338 seeks to establish a new court system in which health care decisions will be made. Despite SB 1338’s use of the terms ‘recovery’ and ‘empowerment,; CARE Court is a system of coerced, court-ordered treatment that strips people with mental health disabilities of their right to make their own decisions about their lives.”
Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye was a supporter of the bill, declaring:
“I commend the Governor for his efforts in addressing mental health and homelessness issues. These are issues we deal with constantly in the judicial branch and we look forward to working with the administration and the Legislature in the coming months as the program is further developed.”
Copyright 2022, Metropolitan News Company