“Today Governor Newsom signed the CARE Act into law, creating a new pathway to deliver mental health and substance use disorder services to the most severely impaired Californians who too often suffer in homelessness or incarceration without treatment. The CARE Act moves care and support upstream, providing the most vulnerable Californians with access to critical behavioral health services, housing and support. 

CARE recognizes that to serve those with the most complex behavioral health conditions, we must do the hard work of prioritizing those who need help the most, providing a comprehensive CARE plan that honors self-determination to the greatest extent possible, and holding ourselves accountable to delivering services and housing that are key to long term stability and recovery.  

Today is significant and would not have been possible without the contributions of the many passionate and thoughtful individuals and organizations we have engaged with over the past many months to help craft this unprecedented and innovative legislation. On the shoulders of those who leaned in to get us to this point, we now shift our full energy to implementing the CARE Act program in counties across the state. Rolling up sleeves to collaborate, partner and plan so those who can benefit from this new pathway can do so as soon as possible.

I look forward to continuing our work together on the successful implementation of the CARE Act. Ongoing engagement with representatives from a wide variety of networks, including peers, disability rights organizations, families, racial equity advocates, housing and homelessness stakeholders, behavioral health providers and associations, and more will be key to delivering on the promises at the heart of CARE.”

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