California ’ s New Plan to Treat the Mentally Ill May End Up Violating Their Rights

Facing enormous pressure to tame what appears to be a spiraling and increasingly intertwined statewide crisis in mental health, substance use, and homelessness, California officials have created the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Court, or CARE Court. The new system is a policy smorgasbord that ranges from the provision of court-ordered treatment and housing to food assistance, social activities, and exercise programming for Californians with severe mental illness. CARE Court, which launched in October to skeptical but hopeful Californians, is aimed at tackling the Golden State’s perpetual public welfare emergency through a collaborative referral and treatment process. The plan, passed and signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom in July, is currently being piloted in San Francisco, San Diego, and Orange counties, with Los Angeles County, which has the state’s largest homeless population, launching on Dec. 1. California’s remaining counties will implement CARE Courts by year’s end. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Going back to the early 18th Century, American prisons and mental health wards have used coercive or involuntary treatment on their populations, while so-called drug courts, invented in the 1970s, often make enrollment into substance use treatment programs, like methadone, a condition for favorable adjudication terms. CARE Courts are presented as a more compassionate and flexible iteration, yet can still in...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized California Source Type: news