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The California Report

A Look At CARE Court One Year In

Keith Mizuguchi
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A man sits next to three women at a table as he points to something.
Dr. Veronica Kelley, director of Behavioral Health Services for Orange County, right, listens as Orange County Superior Judge Ebrahim Baytieh speaks during a CARE court information session at Behavioral Health Training Center on Aug. 16, 2023 in Orange. The county's behavioral health department and a representative from the public defender's office is meeting with the public to explain what the CARE Act is.  (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Here are the morning’s top stories on Wednesday, October 2, 2024…

  • CARE Court turns one this week. When it rolled out last year in eight California counties, the program took aim at one of the state’s most pressing challenges — how to treat people whose illness often makes them believe they are not sick, particularly those who, left untreated, move between jail, hospitals and homelessness. So how’s it going?
  • The Line Fire in the San Bernardino Mountains flared up over the weekend, forcing more evacuations in areas south of Big Bear Lake. On Tuesday, prosecutors gave details about how they believe the fire was started. 
  • Tuesday is the second day of a strike by thousands of dockworkers on the East and Gulf coasts. And so far, there hasn’t been a huge impact at two major ports on the West Coast, the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Oakland.

CARE Court Was Supposed To Help Those Hardest To Treat. Here’s How It’s Going

When it rolled out last year in eight counties, CARE Court took aim at one of the state’s most vexing challenges: how to treat people whose illness often makes them believe they are not sick and who, if left untreated, can oscillate between jails, hospitals and homelessness.

Using the weight of a judge’s black robe to nudge county health departments’ doctors in white coats to provide an array of services, the program sought to reach the hardest-to-treat cases.

Now, a year after the program went live in seven counties — San Francisco, Glenn, Tuolumne, Stanislaus, Orange, Riverside, and San Diego — and ten months after it launched in Los Angeles County, petitions appear to be trickling in slower than expected and treatment plans are taking longer to put in place.

And, while Gov. Gavin Newsom, who first introduced the initiative in March 2022, initially said it would target those “living on our streets with severe mental health and substance use disorders,” the number of unhoused people going through the program varies widely from county to county.

CalFire Witnesses Allege Suspect Used Paper, Coins To Ignite Line Fire

Prosecutors revealed new details Tuesday about the cause of the Line Fire during a preliminary hearing at the San Bernardino Justice Center.

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CalFire investigators, who are serving as witnesses for the prosecution, testified that suspect 34-year-old Justin Wayne Halstenberg allegedly used paper to ignite the large blaze, which remains active. Several witnesses took the stand, detailing how the fire was started.

Investigators with CalFire say surveillance footage from a city fire station, nearby residents and a passing Tesla captured a white pickup truck owned by Halstenberg at the source of the Line Fire, near Baseline, Alpin and Weaver Streets on the afternoon of September 5.

West Coast Ports Not Severely Impacted By Strike

Union dockworkers along East Coast and Gulf Coast ports are on strike, halting the movement of billions of dollars’ worth of goods including furniture, paper, shoes, manufacturing components, farm machinery and much more.

The pickets began just after midnight Tuesday, after talks between the International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime Alliance (USMX), which represents ocean carriers and port operators, failed to yield a new contract.

So far, officials with the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Oakland say operations are normal and they are not anticipating a significant increase in cargo from the strike.

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