Business interests at the Capitol are getting publicly involved in the fraught issue of homelessness.
Last week, a bill to introduce a new program for people experiencing homelessness who need behavioral health treatment passed through the state Senate. The bill received support from a coalition of business groups, led by the California Chamber of Commerce.
“The homelessness issue is probably, maybe after inflation, the biggest issue for Californians, and it is a driving issue for public policy and an issue that affects many, many, many businesses," said Loren Kaye, president of the California Foundation for Commerce and Education, a CalChamber-affiliated think tank. “Each week it gets more difficult for businesses and obviously gets more difficult for the poor individuals who are living on the street.”
Along with CalChamber, the coalition includes chambers of commerce representing business interests in more than a dozen cities.
The bill would implement the CARE Court program that Gov. Gavin Newsom introduced in March.
The program would create a court-ordered treatment plan for adults with severe mental illness, especially those with untreated schizophrenia and other disorders that cause psychosis. They would enter the program through a petition filed in civil court by a family member, medical professional, first responder or nonprofit or homeless outreach worker, or by the person seeking treatment. A fact sheet released by the governor’s office said people who have been arrested or who have been held at a hospital involuntarily would be good candidates for the program.
After a series of hearings, the court could order the person to comply with a one-year treatment plan that could be extended to two years. The plan could include behavioral health services, housing resources and social services.
People who didn’t follow through with their plan could be involuntarily hospitalized or referred to a conservatorship.
“The governor’s proposal, it goes to the most vulnerable and least capable part of this population, the severely mentally ill, individuals who are disabled by addiction, people who basically don’t have the capacity to care for themselves,” Kaye said.
Homelessness isn’t a topic that CalChamber typically weighs in on.
“We don’t present ourselves as having expertise on the details of this proposal,” Kaye said, but CalChamber found the different approach in this proposal appealing. “We support it because it’s focused on a very important population and it recognizes that what we’re doing now just isn't working, and we believe that deserves support.”
The proposal has drawn criticism from housing and homeless rights groups.
In an opposition letter, a coalition that includes Disability Rights California and the American Civil Liberties Union California Action called CARE Court, "a system of coerced, involuntary outpatient civil commitment that deprives people with mental health disabilities of the right to make self-determined decisions about their own lives."
“Instead of allocating vast sums of money towards establishing an unproven system of court-ordered treatment that does not guarantee housing,” the letter reads, ”the state should expend its resources on a proven solution to homelessness for people living with mental health disabilities: guaranteed housing with voluntary services.”
Newsom’s May budget revision proposal includes $65 million to implement CARE Court.
Senate Bill 1338 passed the Senate with near-unanimous support, with just one senator who declined to vote. Now, it heads to the Assembly for consideration.