CARE Court coming to San Mateo County July 1

“With CARE Court we have another tool to help get folks engaged with services to create an alternative option outside the petition process for families, health providers and law enforcement,” Callagy said. “We have brought assisted outpatient services in the CARE Court framework to make sure that clients have the support they need close at hand.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom praised the county for its aggressive efforts to address homelessness at a press event Tuesday in front of the under-construction Cordilleras Health Campus in Redwood City. Also there was state Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman, D-Stockton, who said CARE Court is the first step in bringing mental health, behavioral health, substance abuse and physical health together and treating individuals with a continuum of care.

“We wouldn’t let somebody with a severed leg lay in the middle of the street and say ‘I don’t need any help, I’m fine,’” Eggman said. “We wouldn’t do that.”

CARE Court builds on Newsom’s priority to address the housing and homelessness crisis within the state. In an effort to move along progress, Newsom announced $3.3 billion from Proposition 1 will be made available for counties to build behavioral health treatment centers by July. 

The narrowly passed ballot measure dedicated $6.38 billion statewide, the majority of which will be distributed among counties for inpatient services and residential treatment beds. Almost $2 million is reserved for permanent housing, half of which will be for veterans specifically. The proposition also requires counties to spend two-thirds of the money from the millionaire’s tax specifically on housing and programs for homeless people.

“By accelerating this first round of funding that’s made available through Proposition 1, the governor has demonstrated his sense of urgency and necessity to address our homelessness and housing crisis across the state,” Tomiquia Moss, secretary of the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, said.

Newsom said he hopes the readily available funds will incentivize local governments to move ahead in addressing homelessness in their jurisdictions like San Mateo County has been doing. He said many other counties are “falling prey to the old stale talking points” but affirmed they have an “unprecedented amount” of funding support to tackle this issue.

“If there’s any overriding or overarching message I want to communicate today, it’s time to do your job,” Newsom said. “It’s time to get things done.”

Though Cordilleras Health Campus was not funded by Proposition 1, Newsom said it illustrates what is possible when counties are committed to progress. The renovated mental health center will create 121 psychiatrist beds and is expected to open in coming months. 

“The new building and the program’s replace a 65-year-old facility originally designed as a hospital for TB patients,” Callagy said. “It has long past outlived its ability to deliver the kind of care that we in San Mateo County know is possible and that our residents deserve.”

Callagy said the county will also look to implement Senate Bill 43, which expands eligibility for conservatorship to include those who suffer from mental illness or substance use disorders “as soon as possible.” The county is hosting the second and final listening session on the topic from 2-4 p.m. Tuesday, May 21, at the South County Adult Outpatient Clinic in Room 100. 

The governor also announced the launch of a new website mentalhealth.ca.gov, which serves to be a comprehensive source of all information, programs and resources in the state. He said this will also include a way to compare and contrast progress on goals between different counties. 

“None of us here created the seemingly intractable societal issues,” Callagy said. “It’d be easy to look the other way and kick the can down the road, but that’s not who we are as a county and that’s not who this governor is.”