News & Spotlight

Explore our Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) Spotlights and Success Stories to stay informed on the latest implementation guidance and real-world impacts. These sections highlight technical deep-dives alongside innovative best practices from counties across California to support your local efforts.

Building Engagement with System Partners

System partners play a critical role in identifying eligible individuals and initiating CARE Act petitions and referrals. The TTA resource Engaging with System Partner Petitioners at the County Level describes who may file a CARE petition or make a statutory referral and explains how collaboration with county BH agencies can improve alignment, reduce duplication, and strengthen outcomes. It outlines system partner roles during the referral and petition phase, as well as what to expect after a petition is filed, including participation in initial court appearances before county BH assumes the petitioner role. The resource also highlights confidentiality and information sharing considerations and provides links to trainings and tools counties can share to support effective engagement across systems.

Many county BH agencies have worked to strengthen their relationships with the system partners in their counties, sharing information related to the CARE Act and beginning to collaborate more seamlessly during the petition process. County BH agencies are encouraged to share overview materials with system partners:

Petitioning at a Glance – Short Video: Overview of petitioning for system partners, including tips for what to expect and what to include. Consider sharing this video when initially engaging with potential partners, introducing petitioning to a broad audience, and promoting CARE through newsletters and social media channels.
Completing a CARE Act Petition: A Tutorial for Key Steps and Tips: Provides guidance on how to complete a CARE Act petition. It outlines the overall purpose of the petition, the type of information that should be included across the required forms, and what to expect during the court’s review process.
CARE Act at a Glance: Provides an overall look at the CARE Act and answers to frequently asked questions. Consider sharing with system partners to provide to their members/employees, hang up in offices, and share with their partners.
CARE Act Eligibility Criteria Fact Sheet: Overview of eligibility criteria, CARE-eligible diagnoses, and additional information. Consider sharing when there are questions about eligibility for CARE.

County BH agencies can also share resources with specific system partners:

Public Guardians & Conservators training and brief.
Hospitals & Emergency Departments training and brief.
Behavioral Health & Social Service Providers training and brief.
First Responders training and brief.

Click the Archives tab for past Training & Technical Assistance Spotlights.

Building Effective System Partner Referral Pathways in Ventura County

Over time, the proportion of total CARE petitions from system partners has increased, revealing this important pathway to connecting community members to services and supports. Many counties have invested heavily in building system partner relationships to ensure these pathways are as smooth as possible.

Ventura County Behavioral Health, for example, has built intentional relationships across systems to help create efficient referral pathways and ensure individuals are quickly connected to appropriate services. In Ventura County, these efforts have resulted in a higher number of system-referred individuals ultimately petitioned to CARE. Below are some best practices that they believe have driven their success:

Building relationships to drive results: Strong, trust-based partnerships across behavioral health, hospitals, and courts have enabled timely referrals and faster connections to services.
Regular coordination: Standing meetings and advance notice from system partners has allowed CARE teams to begin outreach immediately and prepare petitions before critical transition points.
Simple processes: Referral pathways and forms have been intentionally designed to minimize burden on partners, increasing buy‑in and consistent use across systems.
Integration to accelerate care transitions: Co-location of staff, shared records systems, and coordination with Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act support seamless referrals, eligibility review, and step‑down from higher levels of care.

For more ideas on building effective system partner referral pathways, see the TTA resource Engaging with System Partner Petitioners at the County Level.

Click the Archives tab for past Success Stories.

CARE Act TTA Spotlight Archive

CARE Act Success Stories Archive

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