‘Deep in the weeds’: California counties face unknowns in launching mental illness court

In four months, the gavel will fall, and the state’s first CARE Courts will be in session. Seven counties opted for an Oct. 1 rollout of the law that orders each county to create special courts, whose judges have the authority to order treatment plans for individuals with untreated schizophrenia and related disorders. Even though the plans are not compulsory, the courts hope for compliance as the law tries to straddle a line between voluntary and mandated treatment.