Gov. Gavin Newsom provided detail in which California lawmakers intend to address chronic homelessness for those who suffer from mental illness and substance abuse disorders.
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The plan, dubbed CARE Court, refers to a redesigned system of Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment, Newsom explained in front of a Napa state hospital on Thursday.
"We've been in the process of designing a new approach, a new paradigm," he said.
CARE Court essentially is designed to move faster than current procedures to connect people struggling with untreated mental illness, which can often go hand in hand with substance use challenges, with services.
This entails using a court-ordered, personalized care plan that can extend for as long as two years. Along with services, these plans include medication, housing, and an assigned public defender and supporter
to help with the process.
"There's no greater case for the urgency of this initiative than the case that's made every single hour of every single day in the state of California as we navigate the streets and sidewalks and we see at scale the failure of our current system," said Newsom. "That is abusive."
This new initiative will be funded by a $14 billion multi-year investment to provide 55,000 new housing units and treatment slots. An additional $10 billion annually will go to community behavioral health services.
Local leaders from California cities, including mayors from Los Angeles, Bakersfield and Sacramento have endorsed the plan.
All counties statewide are compelled to participate in the plan, and will be sanctioned if they do not, or could have an agent appointed to them to oversee procedures.
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