The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors approved $282,613. staff positions and overhead It depends on the county implementing a state-mandated program aimed at helping people suffering from serious mental illness, including untreated schizophrenia.

Sonoma and Napa counties among 50 districts due to implementation CARE Court Until December 1. They will join eight counties (Glenn, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Los Angeles) that have already launched the program since its inception two years ago.

The Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Court program is a criminal court system in which certain individuals, including family members and first responders, can petition a civil court for treatment, services, and housing resources for individuals with untreated schizophrenia and other psychotic illnesses. It was designed as a case that does not. disorders.

The funding, which the board unanimously approved Tuesday, will include a full-time behavioral health clinician specialist and a full-time senior customer support specialist in the health services department.

“This really drives districts to focus heavily on qualified individuals,” Supervisor James Gore said before offering examples of who the program might cover. “To some extent, high-need homeless (people), mental health, behavioral health, substance abuse, very difficult issues. The hardest and highest users to reach.”

The program was: Led by Governor Gavin Newsom in 2022. Addressing some of the state’s most persistent and connected problems, including chronic homelessness, prison overcrowding, substance abuse and serious mental illness.

The CARE Court process will begin with a petition and include a clinical evaluation to determine eligibility, followed by the creation of a care plan—if the person is eligible—which may include recommended treatment, medication, and housing. The individual’s participation in the plan and the county’s service delivery will then be monitored through court hearings for a year.

The program outlines seven criteria to determine whether a person is eligible for CARE Court: being 18 years of age or older with a diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum or other psychotic disorder; The person is clinically unstable on ongoing voluntary treatment; and it seems unlikely that the person will be able to fend for himself/herself safely and independently.

Implementing CARE Court will require coordination across multiple county departments, including the Health and Human Services departments, the Sheriff’s Office, and the Public Defender’s Office. Sonoma County officials charged with implementing the program are: Meeting since January 25 to prepare.

Jennifer Solito, the county’s interim health services director, said Tuesday that the county did not expect an immediate and overwhelming demand for the program when it launched.

“For counties that have already implemented CARE Court, it hasn’t been as inundated with new cases as it could have been,” Solito said. “We think the rollout will be pretty slow as people realize that this is an option, a voluntary option.”

Sonoma County may see up to 40 CARE Court petitions in the first year, based on Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) conservatorships and misdemeanor cases where defendants are found incompetent to stand trial. board meeting.

The health services department plans to update the board on how the program will operate in 2025, Solito said.

Reach Staff Writer Emma Murphy at 707-521-5228 or [email protected]. @MurphReports on Twitter.