2023 California Code › Welfare and Institutions Code - WIC › DIVISION 5 - COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES › PART 8 - The Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment Act › CHAPTER 6 - Technical Assistance and Administration › Section 5985.

5985. (a) The department shall develop, in consultation with county behavioral health agencies, other relevant state or local government entities, disability rights groups, individuals with lived experience, families, counsel, racial justice experts, and other appropriate stakeholders, an annual CARE Act report. The department shall post the annual report on its internet website.
(b) County behavioral health agencies and any other state or local governmental entity, as identified by the department, shall provide data related to the CARE Act participants, services, and supports to the department. The department shall determine the data measures and specifications, and shall publish them via guidance issues pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 5984.
(c) Each county behavioral health department and any other state and local governmental entity, as identified by the department, shall provide the required data to the department, in a format and frequency as directed by the department.
(d) (1) In consultation with the Judicial Council, the department shall develop an annual reporting schedule for the submission of CARE Act data from the trial courts.
(2) Data from the trial courts shall be submitted to the Judicial Council, which shall aggregate the data and submit it to the department consistent with the reporting schedule developed pursuant to paragraph (1).
(3) On an annual basis to be determined by the Judicial Council and consistent with the annual reporting schedule developed pursuant to paragraph (1), the trial courts shall report to the Judicial Council the following data related to CARE Act petitions:
(A) The number of petitions submitted pursuant to Section 5975.
(B) The number of initial appearances on the petition set pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 5977.
(C) The total number of hearings held pursuant to this part.
(e) The annual report shall include process measures to examine the scope of impact and monitor the performance of CARE Act model implementation. The report shall include, at a minimum, all of the following:
(1) The demographics of participants, including, but not limited to, the age, sex, race, ethnicity, disability, languages spoken, sexual orientation, gender identity, housing status, veteran status, immigration status, health coverage status, including Medi-Cal enrollment status, and county of residence, to the extent statistically relevant data is available.
(2) The services and supports ordered, the services and supports provided, and the services and supports ordered but not provided.
(3) The housing placements of all participants during the program and at least one year following the termination of the CARE plan, to the extent administrative data are available to report the latter. Placements include, but are not limited to, transition to a higher level of care, independent living in the person’s own house or apartment, community-based housing, community-based housing with services, shelter, and no housing.
(4) Treatments continued and terminated at least one year following termination of the CARE plan, to the extent administrative data are available.
(5) Substance use disorder rates and rates of treatment among active CARE plan participants and former participants at least one year following termination of the CARE plan, to the extent administrative data are available to report the latter.
(6) Detentions and other Lanterman-Petris-Short Act involvement for participants with an active CARE plan and for former participants at least one year following termination of the CARE plan, to the extent administrative data are available to report the latter.
(7) Criminal justice involvement of participants with an active CARE plan and for former participants at least one year following termination of the CARE plan, to the extent administrative data are available to report the latter.
(8) Deaths among active participants and for former participants at least one year following termination of the CARE plan, along with causes of death, to the extent administrative data are available.
(9) The number, rates, and trends of petitions resulting in dismissal and hearings.
(10) The number, rates, and trends of supporters.
(11) The number, rates, and trends of voluntary CARE agreements.
(12) The number, rates, and trends of ordered and completed CARE plans.
(13) Statistics on the services and supports included in CARE plans, including court orders for stabilizing medications.
(14) The rates of adherence to medication.
(15) The number, rates, and trends of psychiatric advance directives created for participants with active CARE plans.
(16) The number, rates, and trends of developed graduation plans.
(17) Outcome measures to assess the effectiveness of the CARE Act model, such as improvement in housing status, including gaining and maintaining housing, reductions in emergency department visits and inpatient hospitalizations, reductions in law enforcement encounters and incarceration, reductions in involuntary treatment and conservatorship, and reductions in substance use.
(18) A health equity assessment of the CARE Act to identify demographic disparities based on demographic data in paragraph (1), and to inform disparity reduction efforts.
(f) (1) The report shall include, at a minimum, information on the effectiveness of the CARE Act model in improving outcomes and reducing disparities, homelessness, criminal justice involvement, conservatorships, and hospitalization of participants. The annual report shall include process measures to examine the scope of impact and monitor the performance of CARE Act model implementation, such as the number and source of petitions filed for CARE Court; the number, rates, and trends of petitions resulting in dismissal and hearings; the number, rates, and trends of supporters; the number, rates, and trends of voluntary CARE agreements; the number, rates, and trends of ordered and completed CARE plans; the services and supports included in CARE plans, including court orders for stabilizing medications; the rates of adherence to medication; the number, rates, and trends of psychiatric advance directives; and the number, rates, and trends of developed graduation plans. The report shall include outcome measures to assess the effectiveness of the CARE Act model, such as improvement in housing status, including gaining and maintaining housing; reductions in emergency department visits and inpatient hospitalizations; reductions in law enforcement encounters and incarceration; reductions in involuntary treatment and conservatorship; and reductions in substance use. The annual report shall examine these data through the lens of health equity to identify racial, ethnic, and other demographic disparities and inform disparity reduction efforts.
(2) Data shall be stratified by age, sex, race, ethnicity, languages spoken, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, housing status, veteran status, immigration status, health coverage source, and county, to the extent statistically relevant data is available. Information released or published pursuant to this section shall not contain data that may lead to the identification of respondents or information that would otherwise allow an individual to link the published information to a specific person. Data published by the department shall be deidentified in compliance with Section 164.514(a) and (b) of Title 45 of the Code of Federal Regulations.
(g) The outcomes shall be presented to relevant state oversight bodies, including, but not limited to, the California Interagency Council on Homelessness.
(Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 319, Sec. 7. (SB 1338) Effective January 1, 2023. Section conditionally operative as provided in Section 5970.5.)