CARE Court FAQs

The CARE court process is not a criminal proceeding and does not punish people. CARE court creates a collaborative civil court process. The goal of CARE court is to engage individuals with an untreated schizophrenia spectrum disorder in a voluntary, non-punitive process with the county’s behavioral health services professionals and with the court providing oversight.

A conservatorship is a legal action in which a judge appoints someone to act or make decisions for another person in need of help. However, the focus of CARE Act proceedings is to enable the person to access the services and resources they need and to empower and support the person to make decisions about their own treatment and recovery to the greatest extent possible.

The petitioner is the individual who filed the petition with the court. The respondent is the individual for whom the petition was filed and for whom services are sought.

All of the following requirements must be met for the respondent to be eligible for CARE Act court proceedings.

• 1. The respondent must be 18 years or older and must:
• 2. Have a diagnosis of a schizophrenia spectrum disorder or another psychotic disorder in the same class.
• 3. Be currently experiencing a mental illness that:
• Is severe in degree and persistent in duration,
• May cause behavior that interferes substantially with activities of daily living, and
• May lead to an inability to maintain stable adjustment and independent functioning without treatment, support, and rehabilitation for a long or indefinite period.
• 4. Not be clinically stabilized in ongoing voluntary treatment.
• 5. At least one of the following must be true:
• The respondent is unlikely to survive safely in the community without supervision, AND the respondent’s condition is substantially deteriorating, OR
• The respondent needs services and support to prevent a relapse or deterioration that would likely result in grave disability or serious harm to the respondent or others.
  • Grave disability means a person’s inability, due to mental illness, to provide for their basic personal needs for food, clothing, or shelter.
  • Serious harm includes injury causing extreme pain, high risk of death, or loss of physical or mental functions.
• 6. The respondent’s participation in a CARE plan or CARE agreement must:
• Be the least restrictive alternative necessary to ensure the respondent’s recovery and stability, AND
• Be likely to benefit the respondent.

For more information and to view a video about these eligibility criteria, please visit the court’s CARE Act webpage.

Only a person with a schizophrenia spectrum or other psychotic disorder is eligible for the CARE Act process, even if they have a different serious mental disorder such as bipolar disorder or major depression.

• The psychotic disorder must not be based on a medical condition, including a physical health condition like a traumatic brain injury (TBI), autism, dementia, or a neurological condition.
• A person who has been diagnosed with a substance use disorder must also have a psychotic disorder and meet the other eligibility requirements to qualify for CARE Act proceedings.

A CARE Act petition must be filed by an adult who has a close relationship with the person whom they want to refer to CARE Court. This relationship could be because they live together, are married or in a domestic partnership, are family members (like parents, siblings, children, or grandparents), or someone who takes on a parental role. The person who needs help may also file a CARE Petition on their own behalf. Also, there are individuals from the community and county agencies who may file a petition.

There are no filing fees for a CARE Act petition.

Yes, the court is required to appoint an attorney for the respondent in a CARE Act proceeding, at no cost to the respondent, unless they choose to retain their own attorney. This ensures that respondents have assistance in understanding and protecting their legal rights.

When CARE Act proceedings have started, you have the right to:

• Be informed of the proceedings and get notice of each hearing.
• Get copies of the petition that started the proceedings and of any court-ordered evaluations and reports.
• Have a free, court appointed attorney representing you.
  • Note: You can choose to hire your own attorney, but you will need to pay for that attorney on your own.
• Be present at and personally participate in each hearing.
  • This includes having the ability to present evidence, call witnesses, question any witnesses, and appeal decisions.
• Have a supporter to help you.
• Decide if the person who filed the CARE petition can participate in court hearings after the first hearing on the merits.
• Have an interpreter, if necessary.
• Keep confidential any evaluations, reports, documents, and court filings submitted to the court for CARE Act proceedings.

For more information, see the California Courts Self-Help Guide. These rights are also detailed in the CARE-060-INFO form and the CARE-113 form.

No. At the initial hearing, the director or other representative from the county’s behavioral health agency will replace you as the petitioner.

Petitioners can go to the hearing on the merits and make a statement. If the petitioner is someone who lives with the respondent, is a spouse, parent, sibling, child, or grandparent, or, is someone who stands in the place of a parent, the court may choose to give the petitioner ongoing rights to receive notice about hearings. If the respondent agrees, the court may allow the petitioner to participate in the rest of the CARE Act proceedings. Further, if the petition is dismissed and the respondent’s situation later changes, you may file a new petition with the court.

The court will review the petition and supporting documents to determine if they show that the respondent meets or might meet CARE Act eligibility requirements. Then, it will do one of the following:

• Dismiss the petition. The court will do this if it finds: (1) the petition does not show that the respondent meets or may meet CARE Act eligibility requirements, or (2) the respondent is voluntarily working with Behavioral Health Services, their engagement is effective, and the respondent has enrolled or is likely to enroll in voluntary treatment through the county or another provider.
• Order a report. If the court finds the petition does show that the respondent meets or may meet criteria for the CARE Act process, the court will order Behavioral Health Services to engage with the respondent and file a written report.
• Set an initial appearance. The court will set an initial appearance if it finds that the report filed by Behavioral Health Services supports the petition’s showing that the respondent meets or may meet CARE Act eligibility requirements and the county’s engagement with the respondent was not effective. Note: The procedures are somewhat different if Behavioral Health Services is the petitioner.

Initial Hearing:

• The petitioner must be present at the initial hearing or the court may dismiss the petition. The petitioner and respondent will receive a notice in the mail of the date, time, and place of the hearing.
• If the individual or entity that filed the petition was not the behavioral health agency, then the behavioral health agency will step in as the petitioner at the initial hearing.
• The respondent may choose a volunteer supporter or ask that one be appointed.

Hearing on the Merits:

• The court will then set a hearing on the merits. If the respondent is present at the initial hearing, the court may decide to hold the hearing on the merits at the same time as the initial hearing.
• At this hearing, the court will determine if the respondent meets the eligibility criteria to move forward with the CARE process.
• If the respondent is determined to be eligible, a case management conference is set. Before that conference date, the respondent, their attorney, supporter, and the behavioral health agency will work together to see if they can create a voluntary CARE agreement that includes services, resources, and treatments to fit the respondent’s needs.

Case Management Conference (CMC)

• At the CMC, the judge will check to see if a CARE agreement can be reached. If an agreement is reached, the court will set review hearings every 60 days to track the respondent’s progress with their agreement.
• If it is not likely that an agreement will be reached, a clinical evaluation will be ordered and a hearing will be set for the court to review the evaluation. When the court reviews the evaluation, if the respondent continues to remain eligible for CARE court, the court will order a CARE plan.

A CARE agreement is a voluntary agreement entered into by the respondent and the county behavioral health agency after a court has found that the respondent is eligible for the CARE process. The CARE agreement will include an individualized range of community-based services and support, which can consist of clinical services; behavioral health care; counseling; specialized psychotherapies, programs and treatments; stabilization medications; a housing plan; and other forms of support provided through a local government entity.

A CARE plan is a court-ordered plan that includes the same elements as a CARE agreement. If a CARE agreement is not reached and a clinical evaluation indicates that the respondent meets criteria, the court will order the creation of a CARE plan, which will include an individualized range of community-based services and support. Stabilization medications may only be included in a CARE plan if a court finds that the respondent lacks capacity, but the CARE plan cannot force the respondent to take the stabilization medications.

If a respondent decides to leave the CARE program or does not engage with the services offered, the proceedings may be dismissed, but there are no court-imposed penalties. However, if circumstances later change, a new petition can be filed to determine eligibility for CARE services.

The supporter is a volunteer who helps the respondent understand, consider, and communicate their decisions to ensure that the respondent can make self-directed choices to the greatest extent possible. The supporter may be a friend, family member, faith leader, mentor, person with lived experience in mental health and/or substance use disorder, or other support person chosen by the respondent. The respondent may also choose not to have a supporter.

For more information about the volunteer supporter role, please visit the CARE Act Resource Center.

All reports, evaluations, diagnoses, documents, and filings submitted during CARE Act proceedings are confidential. CARE Act hearings are closed to the public unless the court orders otherwise.