CARE Act

Referrals for care and support can also be made through a formal court petition.

Interested parties are strongly encouraged to work with the Court’s Self-Help Center for completion of the petitions.

To be a petitioner, the petitioner must be 18 years of age or older and be one of the following:

• A person who lives with the individual (the individual being the person needing CARE Act services).
• The individual’s spouse or registered domestic partner, parent, sibling, child, or grandparent.
• A person who has authority to act as the individual’s parent.
• The director of a County Behavioral Health Agency where the individual lives.
• A licensed behavioral health professional who has been supervising the treatment or treating the person for a mental disorder within the last 30 days or the professional’s.
• The director of a public or charitable agency who is, or has within the last 30 days, been providing behavioral health services to the individual or in whose institution the individual resides, or the director’s designee.
• The director of a hospital in which the individual is or was recently hospitalized, or the director’s designee.
• A California tribal court judge in whose court the individual has appeared within the previous 30 days, or a judge’s designee.
• The director of Adult Protective Services of a county where the individual lives or is present, or the director’s designee.
• The director of a California Indian health services program or tribal behavioral health department that is, or has within the previous 30 days, been providing behavioral health services to the individual, or the director’s designee.
• A first responder who has encountered the individual multiple times to arrest or involuntarily detain the individual, engage the individual in voluntary treatment, or make other efforts to get the individual professional help.
• The public guardian or public conservator of the county where the individual lives or is present, or the public officer’s designee.
• A conservator or proposed conservator referred from a process under the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (LPS).

The following may be an additional resource to support petitioning efforts.
https://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/How-to-File-CARE-100-083123.pdf

This short video is a high-level overview of petitioning for system partners, including tips for what to expect and what to include. For a deeper dive into the process and forms, see the how-to videos and other resources for petitioners on the CARE Act Resources for Petitioners landing page.

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