California Governor Newsom signs bill supporting mental health care courts
Updated: September 27, 2024 2:24 PM PDT
California Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday signed a series of bills aimed at strengthening mental health and substance abuse care. The roughly 20 bills include SB 42, authored by Sen. Tom Amberg (D-Santa Ana), which would streamline counties and courts. Enforcement of the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment Act, also known as “CARE.” The CARE Act was passed last year. Since the program began last year, CARE courts in nine counties have helped provide treatment and housing for more than 700 people with untreated schizophrenia spectrum and psychotic disorders, according to the governor’s office. By December, all counties will begin offering CARE Courts, which allow families to petition a court to have a loved one with a serious mental illness committed to a mental health facility. The other measure, SB 1238, was authored by Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman (D). -Stockton) to expand the types of facilities in which people in temporary custody for substance abuse can be housed. This also includes mental health rehabilitation centers and mental health facilities. SB 1400, authored by Sen. Henry Stern (D-Calabasas), increases transparency about how the CARE Act is administered by requiring annual reporting to states. It also calls for an “incompetent misdemeanor” hearing to first determine whether a person is eligible for programs or treatment before dismissing a case. “This legislation will prevent thousands of severely mentally ill people who have been arrested from simply being sent back to the streets from prison,” Stern said in a statement. “This is an issue where we have to bring mental health care forward and improve it.” Another bill, AB 2376, authored by Assemblyman Dr. Jasmeet Bains (D-Bakersfield), would be used to treat people who use drugs. The plan is to increase the number of hospital beds. Reduce bottlenecks by giving facilities the flexibility to manage treatment slots. According to the governor’s office, additional approved bills in the package include: AB 1316, written by Rep. Jackie Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks) |Emergency Services: Psychiatric Emergency Medical Conditions. AB 1842, by Rep. Eloise Gomez Reyes (D-San Bernardino) | Health Care Coverage: Medication-Assisted Treatment. AB 2115, by Rep. Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) |Controlled Substances: Clinics.AB 2154, by Marc Berman (D-Palo Alto) Mental Health: Involuntary Treatment. AB 2270, by Rep. Brian Maienschein (D-San Diego) |Healing Arts: Continuing Education: Menopausal Mental or Physical Health. AB 2703, by Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) |Federally Qualified Health Centers and Local Clinics: Psychological Associates. AB 2871, by Rep. Brian Maienschein (D-San Diego) | Overdose Fatality Review Team. SB 910, by Sen. Tom Amberg (D-Santa Ana) |Therapeutic Court Program Standards. SB 1063, by Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) |Student Safety: Identification Cards. SB 1184, by Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton) |Mental Health: Involuntary Treatment: Antipsychotics. SB 1318, by Sen. Aisha Wahab (D-Fremont) |Student Health: Suicide Prevention Policy: Student Suicide Crisis. SB 1323, by Sen. Caroline Menjivar (D-Van Nuys) |Criminal Proceedings: Competency to Stand Trial — KCRA 3’s Daniel Macht contributed to this article.
California Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday signed a series of bills aimed at strengthening mental health and substance abuse care.
The nearly two dozen bills include SB 42, authored by Sen. Tom Amberg (D-Santa Ana), which is the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment Act, also known as CARE. It streamlines county and court enforcement of the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Act (Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Act). The CARE Act was passed last year.
Since the program began last year, CARE courts in nine counties have helped provide treatment and housing for more than 700 people with untreated schizophrenia spectrum and psychotic disorders, according to the governor’s office. By December, all counties will begin offering CARE courts, which allow families to petition a court to have a loved one with a severe mental illness committed to a mental health facility.
Another bill, SB 1238, authored by Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton), expands the types of facilities in which people held in temporary conservatorship for substance abuse can be housed. This also includes mental health rehabilitation centers and mental health facilities.
SB 1400, authored by Sen. Henry Stern (D-Calabasas), increases transparency about how the CARE Act is administered by requiring annual reporting to states. It also calls for an “incompetent misdemeanor” hearing to first determine whether a person is eligible for programs or treatment before dismissing a case.
“This legislation will prevent thousands of severely mentally ill people who have been arrested from simply being sent back to the streets from prison,” Stern said in a statement. “This is an issue where we have to bring mental health care forward and improve it.”
Another bill, AB 2376, authored by Rep. Dr. Jasmeet Bains (D-Bakersfield), would be used to treat people with substance use disorders by giving facilities more flexibility in managing treatment slots. This will increase the number of hospital beds.
According to the governor’s office, additional approved bills in the package include:
AB 1316, written by Rep. Jackie Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks) |Emergency Services: Psychiatric Emergency Medical Conditions. AB 1842, by Rep. Eloise Gomez Reyes (D-San Bernardino) | Health Care Coverage: Medication-Assisted Treatment. AB 2115, by Rep. Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) |Controlled Substances: Clinics.AB 2154, by Marc Berman (D-Palo Alto) Mental Health: Involuntary Treatment. AB 2270, by Rep. Brian Maienschein (D-San Diego) |Healing Arts: Continuing Education: Menopausal Mental or Physical Health. AB 2703, by Cecilia Aguiar-Curry (D-Winters) |Federally Qualified Health Centers and Local Clinics: Psychological Associates. AB 2871, by Rep. Brian Maienschein (D-San Diego) | Overdose Fatality Review Team. SB 910, by Sen. Tom Amberg (D-Santa Ana) |Therapeutic Court Program Standards. SB 1063, by Sen. Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) |Student Safety: Identification Cards. SB 1184, by Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton) |Mental Health: Involuntary Treatment: Antipsychotics. SB 1318, by Sen. Aisha Wahab (D-Fremont) |Student Health: Suicide Prevention Policy: Student Suicide Crisis. SB 1323, by Sen. Caroline Menjivar (D-Van Nuys) | Criminal Procedure: Competency to Stand Trial.
–KCRA 3’s Daniel Macht contributed to this article.
