California to expand Newsom’s failing $328M homeless court
By Annie Gaus
Published Dec. 29, 2025, 7:54 p.m. ET
A California law taking effect in January will expand Gov. Gavin Newsom’s costly mental health court that’s been described as a failure by people involved with the program.
The so-called CARE court program, meant to link mentally ill and homeless people with treatment, has helped far fewer people than Newsom initially promised and hasn’t made a dent in street conditions since it was launched in 2023, according to a CalMatters investigation.
Launched in 2023, the CARE (Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment) court program allows family members, first responders and medical professionals to petition a judge to place a mentally ill person into treatment in lieu of a criminal case.
Newsom hyped CARE court as a “paradigm shift” in fixing street conditions as cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco struggled with high numbers of mentally ill or drug-addicted homeless people.
https://nypost.com/2025/12/29/us-news/california-expands-gavin-newsoms-failing-care-court/
