[LAist] LA County says a program meant to help people with serious mental illness is gaining traction

After a slow start, a program that aims to bring thousands of Angelenos living with serious mental illness under court-led care has seen a spike in petitions filed in recent months, Los Angeles County officials said. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬: CARE Court allows family members, first responders and others to ask a court — by way of a petition — to step in with a voluntary care agreement for someone living with serious, untreated mental illness, such as schizophrenia, to receive community-based mental health services. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲: Since launching in L.A. County in December 2023, the program saw thousands fewer petitions each year than were initially projected. But county officials said petitions filed in L.A. County jumped by about 85% between November 2025 and March 2026, with March seeing a total of 68 petitions. submitted by /u/WeAreLAist [link] [comments]