It’s been six months since Los Angeles County launched a new program aimed at getting more people with serious mental illness into treatment, but the number of petitions so far is much lower than expected. Known as CARE Court , the program that launched Dec. 1 allows family members, behavioral health workers, first responders and others to petition a court to step in with a voluntary care plan for someone living with serious mental illness, like schizophrenia.
State authorities estimated that L.A. County would have as many as 1,900 petitions by now, but as of this week only 155 have been submitted — about 8% of what was projected.
About 500 petitions have been filed statewide. From those petitions, 13 participants now have treatment plans or agreements in place, county authorities said. Orange County, which launched its CARE Court program in October, has three treatment agreements in place.
“Although maybe folks would like to see larger numbers, I think we see change one life at a time,” said Martin Jones, a program manager with the L.A. County Department of Mental Health, which oversees the program.
“I think we see success one story at a time, and I think that there’s some significant work happening here.” Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state leaders have billed CARE Court as a way to get people the lifesaving treatment they need and as one tool for addressing California’s homelessness crisis.
Some mental health advocacy groups have opposed CARE Court, saying it.
