Title
Receive a presentation on the County of Monterey Health Department Behavioral Health Bureau Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act Program.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the County of Monterey Board of Supervisors:
Receive a presentation on the County of Monterey Health Department Behavioral Health Bureau Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act Program.
SUMMARY:
The Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act established a civil court-based framework designed to connect individuals living with untreated serious mental illness to coordinated behavioral health treatment, housing, and supportive services. Monterey County implemented the CARE Act on December 1, 2024. The purpose of this presentation is to provide the Board of Supervisors with an updated overview of CARE Act implementation in Monterey County to date, including changes made pursuant to Senate Bill 27 (SB27), program structure, implementation activities, data, trends, successes, challenges, and opportunities.
DISCUSSION:
The CARE Act establishes a civil court process intended to connect individuals living with untreated severe mental illness to community-based behavioral health treatment, supportive services, and housing resources. Under the CARE Act, designated individuals such as family members, behavioral health providers, first responders, and others identified in statute may petition the court to initiate the CARE process. The court may then facilitate either a voluntary CARE Agreement or a court-ordered CARE Plan tailored to the individual’s identified needs.
CARE Agreements and CARE Plans may include behavioral health treatment, medication support, case management, supportive housing resources, and other community-based services intended to promote stabilization and recovery. The CARE Act is designed to serve as an upstream intervention strategy intended to reduce avoidable psychiatric hospitalizations, incarcerations...
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