OPINION 'The CARE Court program fails to ensure there will be adequate resources dedicated to serving and treating individuals after they are compelled into treatment, and it ignores where and how they will be housed.'
We are both health care professionals with decades of experience caring for people with mental illness, substance use disorders and homelessness, and we have concerns about the proposed Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Court program.
The CARE Court hopes to target between 10,000 and 17,000 people through a court-based mechanism. The legislation is complex and not finalized, but briefly it begins with filing a petition to send a person to the court that can be initiated by almost anyone, including health care professionals, law enforcement, homelessness workers, family members, agencies, even a landlord or roommate.
Given the existing shortage of personnel, who will provide this care? There’s a statewide shortage of case managers and a limited availability of psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses. Our criminal justice and public guardian systems are overburdened, understaffed and underfunded. Will CARE Court solve the problem of treating and housing people with mental illness or will it be another failed and expensive attempt at a quick fix that doesn’t provide the correct solutions needed? We fear it will be the latter. Here are some alternatives:
3) Provide state-funded educational and training opportunities to fast track providers into our social services safety net.
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