March 2026 – Success Story

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.