CALIFORNIA

CARE Act Process and

2026-2027 Expansion Guide

How a petition begins, what must be proved, what the court can order, and how CARE differs from 5150 detention, AOT, conservatorship, and criminal-court competency routes

Status date Current through October 5, 2026. The guide clearly labels provisions that are already operative and provisions scheduled to take effect January 1, 2027.

Prepared as a public-information dossier

California law changes frequently. This document is educational and is not legal or medical advice. Court forms, local procedures, and statutory text should be checked before use.

Contents

• 1. Executive summary
• 2. What CARE is – and what it is not
• 3. Eligibility: every element must be met
• 4. Who may start a CARE case
• 5. The standard petition process
• 6. Evidence and forms
• 7. Hearings, proof, and respondent rights
• 8. CARE agreements, CARE plans, medication, and housing
• 9. Duration, reviews, graduation, and reappointment
• 10. New and recent legislation: SB 27, SB 989, SB 1242, and SB 1323
• 11. Related California pathways: 5150, AOT, LPS, and competency
• 12. Process comparisons and escalation boundaries
• 13. Practical response checklist
• 14. Common misconceptions
• 15. Primary authorities and official resources

Quick status table

Provision	Status on Oct. 5, 2026	Core effect
CARE Act baseline	Operative statewide	Civil court process for specified adults meeting all CARE criteria.
SB 27	Effective Jan. 1, 2026	Expanded qualifying diagnoses to bipolar I disorder with psychotic features and strengthened criminal-court referral routes.
SB 989	Signed Sept. 27, 2026; effective Jan. 1, 2027	Lets qualifying first responders refer a matter to county behavioral health for investigation and possible county filing.
SB 1242	Signed Sept. 27, 2026; effective Jan. 1, 2027	Creates a defined channel for certain original family/household petitioners to submit information to the CARE team.
SB 1323	Effective Jan. 1, 2025	Connects misdemeanor incompetency proceedings to CARE and other treatment pathways.

1. Executive summary

The Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment Act creates a civil court process through which specified petitioners may ask a superior court to connect an adult to behavioral-health treatment, medication support, housing resources, and other services. Filing a petition does not itself establish a diagnosis, authorize confinement, or prove that the respondent meets CARE eligibility.

A CARE case normally moves through several gates: an authorized petitioner files the required forms and supporting evidence; the judge performs a preliminary review; the county investigates and attempts voluntary engagement; counsel is appointed; and the court may hold a merits hearing. At the merits hearing, eligibility must be established by clear and convincing evidence. If the criteria are not met, the case must be dismissed.

The central safeguard CARE eligibility is element-based. Concern, family conflict, homelessness, unusual behavior, an officer’s opinion, or a diagnosis by itself is not enough. The petitioner and county still must satisfy every statutory criterion and the applicable proof standard.

2. What CARE is – and what it is not

CARE is	CARE is not
A civil superior-court proceeding.	A criminal prosecution or automatic probation violation.
A structured route to behavioral-health services and housing supports.	An automatic commitment to a locked psychiatric facility.
A process that may produce a voluntary CARE agreement or a court-ordered CARE plan.	A finding that every allegation in the petition is true.
A proceeding with appointed counsel and hearing rights for the respondent.	A process in which the original family or first-responder petitioner controls treatment.
Separate from emergency 5150 detention and LPS conservatorship.	Authority to forcibly administer medication merely because a CARE plan lists medication.

3. Eligibility: every element must be met

Under Welfare and Institutions Code section 5972, CARE eligibility is conjunctive: the court must find each required element, not merely one or two. In practical terms, the court examines the following questions:

Required element	Operational question
Adult status	Is the person at least 18 years old?
Qualifying disorder	Is the person currently experiencing a severe mental disorder within the specified diagnostic classes? Current law includes schizophrenia-spectrum and other psychotic disorders and, after SB 27, bipolar I disorder with psychotic features. A condition explained solely by current intoxication is excluded.
Not stabilized voluntarily	Is the person not clinically stabilized in ongoing voluntary treatment?
Deterioration or prevention need	Is the person unlikely to survive safely in the community without supervision and substantially deteriorating, or does the person need services and supports to prevent relapse or deterioration likely to result in grave disability or serious harm?
Least restrictive alternative	Would a CARE agreement or plan be the least restrictive alternative necessary to ensure recovery and stability?
Likely benefit	Is the person likely to benefit from CARE participation?

Because the statutory test focuses on current circumstances, old records may supply context but do not automatically establish present eligibility. A respondent may contest diagnosis, current symptoms, deterioration, risk, necessity, and whether a less restrictive voluntary alternative is working.

4. Who may start a CARE case

Welfare and Institutions Code section 5974 lists the authorized petitioners. The list is specific; a concerned person who falls outside it cannot file merely because the person knows the respondent.

• A person who lives with the respondent; a spouse or registered domestic partner; a parent, sibling, child, or grandparent; or a person who stands in loco parentis.
• The director of a hospital in which the respondent is hospitalized, or a designee.
• The director of a public or charitable organization, agency, or home that has provided behavioral-health services to the respondent within the statutory period, or a designee.
• A licensed behavioral-health professional who is treating or recently treated the respondent, subject to the statutory time requirement.
• A first responder with repeated interactions with the respondent, including specified peace officers, firefighters, paramedics, emergency medical technicians, mobile-crisis workers, and homeless-outreach workers.
• The director of the county behavioral-health agency, or a designee.
• The respondent.
• Specified public guardians or conservators, and certain tribal-court or tribal-health representatives where the statutory conditions are met.

What ‘repeated interactions’ means for first responders

The first-responder route is not new in 2027. Current CARE law already permits a qualifying first responder to file when the responder has had repeated interactions with the person through multiple arrests, repeated 5150 detentions, repeated attempts to engage the person in voluntary treatment, or other repeated efforts to provide aid. SB 989 changes the practical filing route beginning in 2027; it does not create first-responder eligibility from nothing.

5. The standard petition process

Stage	What happens
Pre-filing facts and status	The petitioner determines whether the person appears to meet every CARE criterion and whether the petitioner is statutorily authorized.
Forms and supporting proof	The petitioner files CARE-100 with either a CARE-101 declaration from a licensed behavioral-health professional or the alternative detention evidence allowed by statute.
Prima facie judicial review	The judge promptly reviews the filing. If it does not make the required preliminary showing, the court may dismiss it without prejudice, subject to statutory exceptions.
County investigation	For a non-county petition, the court generally orders a county agency to investigate, attempt voluntary engagement, and file a report. Current section 5977 allows up to 30 court days, with a possible limited extension when engagement is progressing.
Voluntary engagement checkpoint	If the person enrolls or is likely to enroll voluntarily, the court dismisses the CARE matter. If the evidence does not support eligibility, the court dismisses.
Counsel and initial appearance	If the showing remains sufficient and engagement was ineffective, the court appoints counsel and sets an initial appearance. The original petitioner generally is replaced by the county behavioral-health director as successor petitioner.
Merits hearing	The court determines whether clear and convincing evidence proves all CARE criteria. If not, dismissal is required. If yes, the county must work with the respondent, counsel, and supporter toward a CARE agreement.
Agreement or clinical evaluation	If a voluntary CARE agreement is not reached, the court may order a clinical evaluation and proceed toward a court-ordered CARE plan if the criteria remain established.
Review hearings	The court monitors implementation through status reviews. The focus includes service delivery by the county, housing stability, engagement, and whether the plan remains appropriate.
Graduation or limited reappointment	The court conducts an end-stage review. CARE ordinarily lasts up to one year, with one additional year possible only after the required findings.

6. Evidence and forms

Core filing package

Form or evidence	Purpose
CARE-100	Petition to begin CARE Act proceedings. It identifies the petitioner, the respondent, eligibility facts, residence/location information, and supporting circumstances.
CARE-101	Mental-health declaration completed by a licensed behavioral-health professional who examined the respondent, or attempted to examine the respondent, within the statutory period and has reason to believe CARE criteria are met.
Alternative detention proof	Instead of CARE-101, the petition may include evidence of at least two qualifying intensive-treatment detentions, with the most recent within the required 60-day period.
CARE-105 / CARE-106	Court order and notice associated with the county investigation and report.
CARE-110 / CARE-113	Notice of initial appearance and notice of the respondent’s rights.

What should be tested, not assumed

• Whether the declarant is qualified and whether the examination or attempted examination occurred within the statutory time window.
• Whether the facts support the qualifying diagnosis rather than merely using labels, hearsay, or conclusions.
• Whether the alleged deterioration, grave disability, or risk is current and supported by admissible evidence.
• Whether the person is already clinically stabilized in voluntary treatment.
• Whether CARE truly is the least restrictive alternative and likely to provide a benefit.
• Whether records, dates, identities, and quoted statements are accurate and complete.

Records are not self-proving A report or prior label may be disputed. Relevance, foundation, hearsay rules, expert qualifications, privacy protections, and the statutory burden still matter at the merits stage.

7. Hearings, proof, and respondent rights

The respondent is a party and is entitled to procedural protections. Welfare and Institutions Code sections 5976 and 5976.5 provide rights that include:

• Notice and a copy of the petition and required reports or evaluations, subject to governing confidentiality rules.
• Court-appointed counsel at all stages and the ability to substitute retained counsel.
• The right to be present, subject to limited waiver and statutory procedures for proceeding in an absence.
• The right to present evidence, call witnesses, cross-examine witnesses, and challenge expert opinions.
• The right to an interpreter and disability accommodations where applicable.
• The option to use a supporter, chosen by the respondent, to help understand, communicate, and make decisions. The supporter does not replace the respondent’s decision-making authority.
• The right to appeal reviewable orders under the governing statutes and rules.

At the merits hearing, the successor petitioner must establish CARE eligibility by clear and convincing evidence. That standard is more demanding than a mere preliminary showing and requires evidence sufficient to produce a firm belief or conviction in the truth of the required facts.

Confidentiality

CARE proceedings and records receive special confidentiality protection. Hearings generally are closed. County investigation reports are confidential, are not public records, and are generally inadmissible in later legal proceedings unless the respondent moves to use them. These protections do not erase every permitted disclosure; the statute authorizes specified information sharing for treatment, implementation, and court administration.

8. CARE agreements, CARE plans, medication, and housing

CARE agreement

A CARE agreement is a voluntary settlement among the respondent and county behavioral-health agency, approved by the court. It may include behavioral-health treatment, stabilization medication, substance-use treatment when clinically indicated, housing resources, social services, and supports. Because it is voluntary, its terms should reflect informed agreement rather than a finding that every requested service is mandatory.

CARE plan

If an agreement cannot be reached and the court continues to find the respondent eligible, the court may order a CARE plan after the required evaluation and hearings. The plan is individualized and may include the same categories of treatment and services. The county also has enforceable duties to provide ordered services and supports; CARE is not solely a set of commands directed at the respondent.

Medication limits

CARE does not authorize forcible medication A CARE plan may include a medication order. But Welfare and Institutions Code section 5977.1 states that medication may not be forcibly administered under CARE. A medication order requires the statutory findings, including a clear-and-convincing determination concerning capacity after evaluation and hearing. Noncompliance is not punishable as contempt.

Other California laws governing emergency treatment, capacity hearings, inpatient medication, or conservatorship operate separately. A CARE order should not be treated as a substitute for those independent legal requirements.

Housing limits

CARE may require a housing plan and prioritize access to appropriate housing resources. It does not, by itself, authorize locked placement, eviction, or removal from a home. A housing component should identify available resources, the respondent’s needs and preferences, and the county’s implementation responsibilities.

Consequences of nonparticipation

A respondent is not jailed or held in contempt simply for failing to comply with a CARE agreement or plan. The court may modify or terminate the process, and the record may have limited relevance to a later, independently initiated LPS proceeding where the separate statutory standards must still be met. CARE does not automatically convert into conservatorship.

9. Duration, reviews, graduation, and reappointment

Point in process	General rule
Initial CARE period	Up to 12 months under a court-approved agreement or plan.
Status reviews	Periodic hearings assess services, progress, barriers, housing, and continued implementation.
Eleventh-month review	The court addresses graduation, a voluntary graduation plan, or whether a further period is legally justified.
Reappointment	One additional period of up to 12 months may be ordered only after the required findings; CARE is not an unlimited rolling order.
Dismissal	The matter may end earlier if eligibility is not proved, voluntary engagement succeeds, criteria cease to be met, or statutory dismissal grounds apply.

10. New and recent legislation

SB 27 – operative January 1, 2026

SB 27 expanded CARE eligibility to include bipolar I disorder with psychotic features, in addition to qualifying schizophrenia-spectrum and other psychotic disorders. It also revised criminal-court and county referral provisions, including routes involving defendants found incompetent to stand trial. The expansion does not eliminate the remaining CARE criteria: current severity, lack of stabilization in voluntary treatment, deterioration or prevention need, least-restrictive necessity, and likely benefit must still be shown.

SB 989 – operative January 1, 2027

Before SB 989 becomes operative, a qualifying first responder with repeated interactions may file a CARE petition directly and must supply the required supporting material. Beginning January 1, 2027, SB 989 creates an additional referral mechanism:

1. The qualifying officer or firefighter sends a standardized referral to the county behavioral-health agency.
2. The county investigates whether the person appears to meet CARE criteria and whether a county-filed petition is appropriate.
3. The county has 30 business days to decide whether to file and must report the outcome to the referring first responder.
4. If the county files, ordinary judicial screening, notice, counsel, investigation, proof, and hearing requirements continue to apply.

Effect of SB 989 SB 989 lowers an administrative barrier for qualifying police and fire personnel by shifting investigation and filing work to county behavioral health. It does not make a first responder’s opinion conclusive and does not itself create a CARE order.

SB 1242 – operative January 1, 2027

SB 1242 changes what certain original family or household petitioners may provide after the county replaces them as petitioner. The original petitioner may send the CARE team information about the respondent’s condition, functioning, treatment history, housing, safety concerns, need for services, engagement, and compliance. The CARE team must receive, review, and document information relevant to care, treatment, housing stability, safety, engagement, or plan implementation. The respondent’s consent is not required merely for the team to receive that incoming information.

The statute also draws firm boundaries. Submission does not give the original petitioner party status or a right to direct treatment, obtain discovery, access confidential records or protected health information, attend confidential proceedings, or otherwise participate without the respondent’s consent except where another law expressly permits it. The court may consider the submitted information when evaluating progress, engagement, changed circumstances, needs, or compliance, but ordinary evidence rules and due-process protections remain relevant.

Practical risk and practical limit SB 1242 creates a formal intake channel for information that could influence care-team and court decisions. It does not convert allegations into findings. Accuracy, documentation, source reliability, confidentiality, admissibility, and the respondent’s opportunity to answer remain critical.

SB 1323 – operative January 1, 2025

SB 1323 connected misdemeanor incompetency proceedings with CARE and other community-treatment options. When a misdemeanor defendant is found incompetent to stand trial, the criminal court must follow Penal Code section 1370.01 and consider the authorized pathways, which may include mental-health diversion, restoration treatment, dismissal, or referral for CARE evaluation where the statutory conditions are present. A referral is not a final CARE eligibility finding; the civil CARE court applies CARE’s separate criteria and procedures.

11. Related California pathways

Pathway	Entry standard	Immediate effect	Key limit
CARE Act	All section 5972 criteria; clear and convincing proof at merits hearing	Court-supervised agreement or plan for services and housing supports	No automatic confinement; no forcible medication under CARE
5150 detention	Probable cause of danger to self, danger to others, or grave disability because of a mental-health disorder	Up to 72 hours for assessment, evaluation, crisis intervention, and treatment	Time-limited emergency detention; later detention requires separate authority
5250 / intensive treatment	Further statutory certification after evaluation and required findings	Additional involuntary treatment period with certification-review protections	Separate LPS procedures, notice, and review rights
AOT – Laura’s Law	County AOT criteria, repeated history, deterioration, and likelihood of benefit	Court-ordered outpatient treatment framework	No automatic locked placement; criteria differ from CARE
LPS conservatorship	Grave disability under the LPS Act proved through conservatorship procedures	Conservator may receive authority over specified personal and treatment decisions	Much greater liberty restriction; jury-trial and periodic-review rights apply
Criminal competency	Substantial doubt or finding that a defendant cannot understand proceedings or assist counsel	Criminal case is suspended while competency procedures occur	Competency is not the same as guilt or CARE eligibility
Mental-health diversion	Penal Code section 1001.36 eligibility and suitability	Criminal charges may be diverted into treatment and later dismissed after successful completion	Requires its own findings and differs from CARE’s civil process

5150 and medication are separate legal questions

A peace officer or specified clinician may initiate a 5150 detention when there is probable cause to believe that, because of a mental-health disorder, a person is a danger to self, a danger to others, or gravely disabled. A 5150 is an emergency evaluation mechanism, not a CARE petition. Involuntary medication during LPS detention is governed by separate capacity and emergency rules, including Welfare and Institutions Code section 5332; CARE’s no-forcible-medication rule does not rewrite those separate provisions.

LPS conservatorship is not an automatic next step

An LPS conservatorship requires its own petition, evidence, findings, and procedural protections. ‘Grave disability’ has a detailed statutory definition, including recent amendments concerning personal safety and necessary medical care. The respondent has rights that can include counsel, a hearing, and a jury trial. A CARE history may be considered only as permitted by law; it does not dispense with the conservatorship burden of proof.

12. Process comparisons and escalation boundaries

Starting event	What may happen next	What does not happen automatically
Family member files CARE-100	Judge screens; county may investigate and attempt voluntary engagement	No immediate diagnosis, medication, confinement, or final order
First responder files now	Direct CARE petition with required support and ordinary court screening	Officer’s conclusion does not establish eligibility
First responder refers after Jan. 1, 2027	County investigates under SB 989 and decides whether it will file	Referral does not require the county to file or the judge to grant relief
Original family petitioner sends information after Jan. 1, 2027	CARE team reviews and documents relevant information under SB 1242	No party status, discovery, treatment control, or confidential-record access
5150 detention occurs	Facility evaluates and may release, admit voluntarily, or pursue further LPS authority	No automatic CARE case or conservatorship
Criminal court finds misdemeanor incompetency	Court considers statutory options and may refer to CARE evaluation	No automatic CARE eligibility finding or conviction

13. Practical response checklist

For a person who learns that a CARE petition or referral may exist, the most useful early response is organized, factual, and tied to the statutory elements:

• Confirm whether a petition was actually filed, the county and case number, the next date, and the exact documents filed. A threat to file, a referral, and an opened court case are different events.
• Contact appointed counsel immediately. If counsel has not yet been appointed, contact the superior court’s CARE self-help office or local public defender/legal-services provider.
• Obtain and read CARE-100, CARE-101, the county report, notices, and any clinical evaluation. Create a list of every factual assertion that is inaccurate, incomplete, undated, or unsupported.
• Organize records showing current housing, food, medical care, voluntary treatment, medication management, employment or daily functioning, and reliable support. These facts may bear directly on stabilization, risk, least-restrictive necessity, and likely benefit.
• Preserve favorable audio, video, messages, medical records, witness information, and timelines in original form. Do not edit originals; make working copies.
• Ask counsel to address each section 5972 element separately and to challenge hearsay, foundation, stale information, expert qualifications, and unsupported conclusions where appropriate.
• Use calm, precise language in filings and hearings. Distinguish personal knowledge from inference, identify dates and sources, and avoid overclaiming what a document proves.
• If information arrived through SB 1242, ask counsel how it was documented, whether it is being offered as evidence, and what process is available to correct or contextualize it.
• If the matter began in criminal court, keep the CARE proceeding, competency question, diversion request, probation status, and underlying criminal allegations analytically separate unless a statute expressly connects them.

14. Common misconceptions

Misconception	More accurate statement
‘Anyone can file.’	Only petitioners listed by statute may initiate a CARE case.
‘A police officer could not file until SB 989.’	Qualifying first responders already can file. SB 989 adds a county-referral route in 2027.
‘A family allegation becomes evidence automatically.’	SB 1242 permits submission and review of information; it does not make the allegation true, admissible, or conclusive.
‘CARE means forced medication.’	CARE may include a medication order after required findings, but the CARE Act bars forcible administration under that order.
‘CARE means locked housing.’	CARE provides a housing plan and service access; it is not itself authority for locked placement.
‘Refusing CARE means jail.’	CARE noncompliance is not contempt and does not itself authorize incarceration.
‘A 5150 automatically leads to CARE.’	The processes are separate. A detention may become evidence, but a CARE case requires an authorized filing and statutory review.
‘A diagnosis alone is enough.’	All eligibility elements, including current instability, need, least-restrictive necessity, and likely benefit, must be established.
‘CARE automatically becomes conservatorship.’	LPS conservatorship requires a separate proceeding and separate proof of grave disability.

15. Primary authorities and official resources

The following official sources should be checked for the current text, forms, and local implementation. URLs are included for direct verification.

1. California Welfare and Institutions Code, sections 5970-5987 (CARE Act): https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayexpandedbranch.xhtml?tocCode=WIC&division=5.&title=&part=8.&chapter=&article=

2. SB 1242 (2025-2026), chaptered bill text: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB1242

3. SB 989 (2025-2026), bill information and chaptered text: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB989

4. SB 27 (2025-2026), bill information and chaptered text: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB27

5. SB 1323 (2023-2024), bill information and chaptered text: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB1323

6. California Courts Self-Help: CARE Act overview: https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/care-act

7. California Courts Self-Help: CARE Act forms: https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/care-act/forms

8. California Courts Self-Help: how to file a CARE petition: https://selfhelp.courts.ca.gov/care-act/how-to-file

9. CARE-050-INFO, Information for Petitioners: https://courts.ca.gov/system/files?file=2025-07/care050info.pdf

10. CARE-060-INFO, Information for Respondents: https://courts.ca.gov/system/files?file=2025-07/care060info.pdf

11. CARE-100, Petition to Begin CARE Act Proceedings: https://courts.ca.gov/system/files?file=2025-07/care100.pdf

12. Welfare and Institutions Code section 5150: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=5150.&lawCode=WIC

13. Welfare and Institutions Code section 5332 (capacity and medication rules): https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=5332.&lawCode=WIC

14. Welfare and Institutions Code section 5350 (LPS conservatorship): https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=5350.&lawCode=WIC

15. Welfare and Institutions Code section 5008 (definitions, including grave disability): https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=5008.&lawCode=WIC

16. Penal Code sections 1367-1370.02 (competency proceedings): https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayexpandedbranch.xhtml?tocCode=PEN&division=&title=10.&part=2.&chapter=6.&article=

Use note

This guide describes the statewide statutory framework. Counties may use different departments, calendars, filing portals, and local forms. For an active matter, use the filed papers and the superior court’s current local instructions, and obtain advice from appointed or retained counsel.