Newsom’s mental health court is flopping, and he’s blaming it on CA counties

Newsom puts underperforming counties on notice

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on March 2 that 10 California counties are falling behind on CARE Court, a program that uses civil courts to connect people with severe mental illness to treatment.

Speaking at a behavioral health campus in Hayward, Newsom threatened to redirect funding from those counties to ones doing better.

He also awarded $291 million in new funding for supportive housing and behavioral health services across the state.

CARE Court connects people to treatment

CARE stands for Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment. Newsom signed the program into law in September 2022.

It lets families, first responders, or mental health professionals ask a civil court to step in on behalf of someone with severe mental illness.

A judge then oversees a process to connect that person with treatment, housing support, and other services.

The goal is to reach people before they end up in jail or under a conservatorship.

All 58 counties now participate

CARE Court first launched in eight pilot counties in late 2023. By December 2024, all 58 California counties had to participate.

Then in late 2025, a new law expanded eligibility to include people with bipolar disorder who experience psychotic symptoms.

That change took effect on Jan. 1, 2026. The expansion means more people can now enter the program, but results so far have been mixed.

Petition numbers tell a complicated story

Through January 2026, counties had filed 3,817 petitions statewide. Judges approved 893 treatment agreements and ordered 32 court-mandated CARE plans.

More than 4,000 people ended up diverted from CARE Court into other county services. The state originally estimated between 7,000 and 12,000 Californians would qualify.

About 45% of petitions statewide have been dismissed, which raises questions about how well the system is working.

Ten counties land on the “ICU” list

Newsom labeled 10 counties as “CARE ICU” counties, meaning they will get extra oversight and support.

The list includes Los Angeles, Orange, San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Bernardino, Kern, Riverside, Yolo, Monterey, and Fresno.

Rankings came from petitions filed per capita during 2025, with the state benchmark sitting at about 6.2 petitions per 100,000 residents.

Newsom did not say exactly which funding could be taken away or how much.

Top-performing counties get recognized too

Newsom also named 10 “CARE Champion” counties with the highest per-capita petition rates. Those are Alameda, Humboldt, Santa Barbara, Tuolumne, Marin, Napa, Merced, Sutter, San Mateo, and Imperial.

He pointed to Alameda County as a standout. Alameda’s Regis Village campus offers transitional and permanent housing with behavioral health support for CARE Court participants.

The campus serves as a model for what Newsom wants other counties to build toward.

Several counties dispute the rankings

Not everyone agrees with Newsom’s list. Monterey County said its petition rate of 7.3 per 100,000 actually beats the state benchmark of 6.2.

Orange County said it has 79 participants actively receiving treatment, housing, and medication. San Francisco’s mayor said encampments in the city are at record lows and that the city welcomes state support to strengthen its program.

The pushback suggests the rankings may not capture every county’s full effort.

Critics say petition counts miss the point

The per-capita petition metric does not account for treatment agreements, dismissal rates, or program graduations.

San Diego County had the most CARE Court graduations of any county, with 10, but did not make the champion list. Riverside County had the second most graduations, with seven, but landed on the ICU list.

Some critics argue that filing more petitions does not necessarily mean a county is actually helping more people get better.

Program has served fewer people than expected

A CalMatters investigation found CARE Court has served far fewer people than the state originally projected.

The program’s first annual report showed more than half of participants could not receive at least one service included in their treatment plan.

The California Assembly Judiciary Committee described CARE Court as a very expensive way to coordinate services without directly providing them.

The state spent about $88 million on the program in fiscal year 2022-23 and about $71 million in 2023-24.

New funding targets housing and services

The $291 million Newsom announced includes about $132 million in Proposition 1 funding for eight housing projects. Those projects aim to create 443 homes for people dealing with mental health or substance use challenges.

The remaining $159 million goes to 20 regions through the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention program.

That funding supports permanent housing, interim housing, and local programs to reduce homelessness across the state.

California reports a drop in homelessness

Newsom’s announcement came after California reported a preliminary 9% drop in unsheltered homelessness in 2025. That figure comes from data submitted by 30 communities, not every community in the state.

If confirmed, it would mark the state’s largest decline in unsheltered homelessness in more than 15 years. The data is still incomplete, so the full picture may look different once all communities report their numbers.

Counties await next steps from the state

Counties on the ICU list will get extra support through the state’s CARE Improvement and Coordination Unit.

Newsom did not spell out what that support looks like beyond technical help and training. A planned $500 million funding round for fiscal year 2026-27 will include stricter accountability rules.

The program’s results over the coming months may shape whether the governor follows through on his threats to pull funding.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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