Office of the Mayor
City of Santa Rosa
100 Santa Rosa Avenue, Room 10
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
June 23, 2022
The Honorable Thomas Umberg
California State Senate
1021 O Street, Room 6730
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: SB 1338 (Umberg) Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Court Program [As Amended May 19, 2022] – SUPPORT
Dear Senator Umberg:
On behalf of the City of Santa Rosa, I write in support of your bill SB 1338 (Umberg) which would enact the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) Act, which would authorize specified individuals to petition a civil court to create a voluntary CARE agreement or court-ordered CARE plan and implement county behavioral health agency services to provide behavioral health care to adults suffering from schizophrenia spectrum and psychotic disorders, as specified.
Homelessness is a major and growing concern for the City of Santa Rosa and has been identified as one of the City Council's top priorities. We understand homelessness is a complex social issue with many contributing factors that cannot be easily or quickly solved by a single agency or organization. Solutions require both immediate and long-term strategies, and the partnership of all levels of local government, community organizations, and the state to achieve real and lasting results. The City is committed to addressing the homelessness crisis and is in the process of developing a five-year Homeless Solutions Strategic Plan, which will identify step-by-step actions to address homelessness in the community and achieve “Functional Zero” homelessness in alignment with the Sonoma County Continuum Care. Further, our legislative platform specifically supports measures that provide resources to address the mental health needs of persons experiencing homelessness.
This bill would lead to important mechanisms that would divert the criminalization of mental health disorders and provide essential resources for the limited, yet critically impacted unhoused members of our community experiencing significant mental health events due to schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. Local governments currently do not have access to adequate alternatives to address the needs of these individuals who would experience positive outcomes from a CARE plan, which would allow a wide range of actors to refer these individuals to the jurisdiction of the courts absent an arrest or hospitalization.
Office of the Mayor
City of Santa Rosa
100 Santa Rosa Avenue, Room 10
Santa Rosa, CA 95404
For these reasons, we are in strong support of SB 1338 and applaud your leadership on this issue. Should you have any questions please contact our legislative advocate, Sharon Gonsalves, with the Renne Public Policy Group, at (916) 974-9270.
Sincerely,
Chris Rogers, Mayor
CC: Senator Mike McGuire
Assemblymember Jim Wood
Assemblymember Marc Levine