The New York Times (9/29, Hubler) reported “policymakers in California have been trying for years to change longstanding laws and bring people with severe mental illness in from the streets.” Now, California “is trying a course correction, and one of the most closely watched measures will start” this week. A novel “program known as CARE Court – the acronym stands for Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment – will give relatives, health care” professionals “and homeless outreach workers standing to ask state courts to compel certain people with severe mental illness to accept treatment, to be provided by county government.” The new “measure will apply only to untreated people who have diagnoses of schizophrenia or certain other psychotic disorders.”
Related Links:
— “A New Approach for People With Severe Mental Illness,”Shawn Hubler, The New York Times, September 29, 2023