LA County to Implement Improvements to CARE Court Program for Individuals with Untreated Mental Health Disorders

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors July 8 approved a motion to make improvements to the County’s Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment program, better known as CARE Court. Launched in Los Angeles County on December 1, 2023, CARE Court is a state-funded program that allows qualified individuals – such as a family member, spouse, roommate, emergency responder, or licensed medical or mental health professional – to petition the court for an eligible individual with untreated schizophrenia or other associated psychotic disorders to receive treatment and services to stabilize their symptoms and continue on a path of recovery and well-being. Among other improvements, the motion directs the County’s Department of Mental Health or LACDMH to develop expedited mechanisms for first responders to make seamless referrals for CARE Court, and to increase community awareness and understanding of CARE Court.

“CARE Court is a critical tool that has offered hope to families who love someone with severe untreated mental illness. But we saw the need for improvements, so we studied them and now we’re finally moving forward with them,” said Supervisor Hahn. “This opportunity to get people living with schizophrenia the care they desperately need is too valuable not to keep trying to make it the best it can be.”

Through a collaborative inter-agency effort between LACDMH, the Independent Defense Counsel Office or IDCO, and the Los Angeles Superior Court or LASC, LA County started its CARE program one year ahead of the state’s mandate for all 58 counties. The motion also now calls for closer collaboration between those agencies to streamline processing of CARE Court cases.